


Epilogue

by criminalheart



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Birthday Party, Counselor-In-Training Hinata, Easily Resolved Love Triangle, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Functional Bi Hinata, M/M, Multi, New Year's Eve, Plans For The Future, Ultimate Talent Development Plan (Dangan Ronpa)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-11 23:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 33,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13534827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/criminalheart/pseuds/criminalheart
Summary: "Let's make this new year a hopeful one."(Hinata Hajime spends three normal years at Hope's Peak Academy and graduates determined to carve his own future. Now comes the part where he has to figure out all the stuff they don’t teach you in school: how to choose a career, how to get a job, and how to deal with being in love with two of your best friends at the same time.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here's some Komahinanami fic set in V3's Talent Development Plan. This fic is close to being done, but right now it's at over 25k words, and I realized nobody probably wants to read a one-shot that long, so I'm dividing it into three chapters.
> 
> You don't actually need any knowledge of V3 to read this (there are no spoilers), but if you haven't gotten to V3 bonus mode yet, I recommend watching these three scenes from the board game, because this fic contains references to them:
> 
> Hinata's last friendship event with Nanami: https://youtu.be/_YZ9wqZ0xQc?t=717  
> Hinata's last friendship event with Komaeda: https://youtu.be/M0n1-YA91iY?t=810  
> Hinata's last friendship event with Souda and Kuzuryuu: https://youtu.be/xTkenOEoX54?t=750
> 
> Hope you enjoy.

The first person he talks to about it is Souda.

They were on a day trip to a military museum, less for the history and more because Souda loved geeking out over tanks and fighter jets. Once the older gentleman in the hall headed back down the elevator and there weren’t any other people around to be annoyed by their chatter, Hinata decided to broach the topic.

“Maybe you could be my assistant!” Souda suggested.

Hinata just stared at him. “What?”

“You know, whenever I have a job that requires an extra set of hands I could ask you. And whenever I need a new tool, you could go get it for me,” he explained. “Stuff like that!”

“I’m not going to be your errand boy!” Hinata said, an exasperated smile tugging up the corners of his lips. “Besides, I don’t know anything about machines.” Or most other things, really, which was sort of the problem.

“Huh… Then what about like, a pro athlete?”

Hinata snorted. “I haven’t been on any teams since grade school.”

“Then...” Souda visibly racked his brains. “Maybe you could be a body builder instead,” was what he came up with. “Hey, it wasn’t a joke!” he complained when Hinata started laughing. “I’ve seen you in the locker room. You’re pretty ripped.”

“There’s no way,” Hinata said, though his cheeks darkened at the compliment.

“I don’t know, dude.” Souda turned away from him and went back to inspecting the suits of armor on display. But after a minute or so, he did offer another suggestion, this time in a quiet tone of voice tinged with uncertainty.

“Maybe you could be like… a counselor, or something.”

“A counselor?” Hinata repeated, surprised.

“Yeah… you do know what a counselor is, right? They like, listen to you talk about your problems. And then they ask, ‘How do you feel about that?’” With a grimace, Souda lowered his tone of voice and confided, “My mom made me go to one back when I lost all my friends and stuff.”

“Ah,” Hinata said quietly. He hadn’t known, but when he remembered what Souda had told him about his middle school years, he guessed that made sense.

“Don’t tell anyone about that, though,” Souda said hastily. “Especially not Sonia-san!”

Hinata shook his head. “I won’t tell. And I already knew what a counselor was. What I want to know is, why do you think _I_ should be one?” Because, really – the idea had never occurred to him.

But Souda just said, “Isn’t it obvious?”

Hinata’s skeptical expression must have made it clear that no, it was _not_ obvious to him, because Souda quickly went on to explain his reasoning.

“When I told you about my old friends, and my dad and stuff like that, you listened really well,” he said. “Like, you listened better than my _actual_ counselor. And I know it’s not just me. You’re like that with everyone. You even got Tsumiki to open up to you. And Komaeda, too… I still don’t understand how you got through to _that_ guy.”

“That’s not…”

Hinata struggled. His first instinct was to argue. But then, he remembered what Nanami had said about how everyone in her class had become more open thanks to him.

Still, there was something that didn’t sit right with him.

“It’s not like listening to people is a talent,” Hinata said slowly. “I mean, anyone can do that.”

“I didn’t say it was your talent. If you were asking me to figure out your talent, that’d be a whole different conversation! But... you’re wrong about that.”

“How am I wrong?” Hinata asked, frowning.

“Not _anyone_ can listen,” Souda corrected him. “Plenty of people can’t. Or they just don’t bother…” His voice trailed off. He seemed to be remembering something from the past. Roughly, he shook his head as if to clear his thoughts.

“It might not be something _only_ you can do, like a talent. But it’s still something you do better than loads of other people.”

“That’s… well…”

Hinata tried, but in the end, he couldn’t come up with any more objections. He decided that maybe he should just accept the compliment.

“…thanks.”

“No problem.” Souda turned away from the display and gestured towards the elevator. “Wanna go back and look at the tanks again?”

* * *

The second person he talks to is Nanami.

After graduating from Hope’s Peak, Hinata’s living situation became unclear. His parents were willing to help him with the initial fee, but he didn’t have enough money to pay rent for his own apartment. And with no special skills and no employers scouting him, he hadn’t found a job yet. He was just stuck sitting around his parents’ house.

Hinata really wanted to move out. The atmosphere at home wasn’t too comfortable. Although he never fought with his parents or anything like that, throughout most of his life, he’d felt like a disappointment to them. Getting a diploma from Hope’s Peak should have made some of those feelings go away, but in truth, it seemed to make things even worse. Hinata’s parents hadn’t made peace with their son’s lack of talent. They hadn’t learned what he had learned: that talent wasn’t the goal. All they knew was that they’d spent all this money so their son could go to Hope’s Peak and have his talent discovered, only for nothing like that to happen. He hadn’t become someone special. He was still the same old Hinata Hajime.

He didn’t regret going to Hope’s Peak. Not when he’d learned so many important things, met so many good friends, and made so many precious memories. But now that all was said and done, he could see that his parents regarded the whole expenditure as a waste of tuition.

So Hinata spent as much time as possible out of the house, which included hanging out at Nanami’s apartment. Her place was small and homey and comfortable, if a little quiet, since she lived alone.

“A counselor, huh?” Nanami asked, cocking her head to the side. For once, she’d paused her game and was actually looking at him while she spoke.

“Yeah,” he said. “It was just some random idea he had, though. He was tossing off all sorts of weird ideas. Before that, he said I should be a pro athlete.”

Actually, Souda’s suggestion about counseling wasn’t a silly off-the-cuff sort of thing. He’d sounded more serious when he made that suggestion than he had when he made all his other ones.

But for some reason, Hinata felt like he had to downplay the whole thing. Just bringing it up at all made him feel self-conscious. He was afraid he sounded presumptuous, talking like he could just go off and become a counselor, when he had no talent and no experience. And no real idea what the job was like, in all honesty. He was afraid of someone telling him that he was getting ahead of himself.

Although he knew, of course, that Nanami would never tell him that. Not in a million years. If anything, Nanami always went too far in the _other_ direction.

“I don’t think those ideas are silly,” she said, just as he expected her to. “Hinata-kun can do anything he puts his mind to… I think.”

 _You think, huh?_  Hinata had to laugh at how her verbal tic undercut the point she was trying to make.

“Thanks,” he said, smiling at her wryly. “I don’t think I can do _anything_ , though. No matter what, there’s still some stuff I’m not qualified to do.”

“Then you’ll just have to become qualified, right?” Nanami replied, like it was the easiest thing in the world. And to her, it probably was. Hinata had to admire her straightforward way of looking at the world.

“It’s too late for me to do something like become an athlete,” he said gently. “I can’t go and pick up the ‘qualifications’ for that.”

“It shouldn’t be too late to become a counselor, though,” Nanami pointed out. “You’d just need to go to university for that.”

So she wasn’t going to be distracted from the point…

Hinata looked away self-consciously. Now that they were talking about something that might not be totally out-of-reach for him, he felt nervous again. “I guess, but who’s to say I’d even get in?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized how feeble he sounded. He knew what Nanami’s response would be before she even spoke.

“You’ll never get anywhere if you don’t try.”

Yeah. Those were the words he expected to hear.

“You just have to study for exams, right?” she asked him.

“I mean, yeah… but…” Hinata grimaced to himself as he admitted, “I don’t even know for sure if it’s what I want to do yet.”

“Then, why don’t you think about it?” Nanami suggested. “Just think about what kinds of things you enjoy doing.”

“What things I enjoy, huh…” Hinata repeated.

“Mm.” Nanami nodded. “For example, I really like games, so I always knew I wanted to be a gamer.”

“Right.” Hinata couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. There were plenty of people out there who liked playing games, but only someone blessed with Nanami’s talents could possibly consider it as a career path.

He wasn’t even sure how that _worked_ , honestly, so he decided to ask. “How’s that been going? Your, uh, gaming?”

“Well, I’m not playing my game right now, because you sounded like you had something serious to say,” she told him. “And I learned from the girls in my class that it’s rude to keep playing when someone is trying to tell you something serious.”

“Alright, Alright, you can go back to playing,” Hinata said, holding up his hands in surrender. Nanami immediately turned her game back on, and the chirpy music from _Kururin Paradise_ filled the air once again. “What I meant was, what’s it like being a _professional_ gamer?” he clarified.

“It’s been going well,” Nanami said without looking up from her screen. “So far I’ve won five tournaments since.”

“ _Five?!_ ” he repeated, amazed. Since they only graduated a month ago, five tournaments seemed like a lot.

“Mm. There was a cash prize for three of them, so I don’t need to worry about money, I think,” she said. “Though, I _have_ been spending some of the prize money on games, so maybe I should try to save up more.”

Hinata laughed a little at that. “I see. Have you ever thought about… doing something else with your talent?”

“Something else?” Nanami asked curiously.

“Like, I don’t know…” Hinata rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. “Designing your own game, or something?”

“Oh. I talked about that with Fujisaki-kun once.”

“You did?” 

“Mm.” Nanami nodded. “We thought about making our own game together. He was going to do the programming, I was going to design the gameplay, and his classmate Yamada-kun was going to design the characters. He said there was a girl in his class who might be able to write the scenario, too.”

“Really?” Hinata was impressed. She’d never mentioned any of that to him before. “That’s great!”

“There was just one problem, though. Fukawa-san said that she wasn’t interested in getting involved with a ‘nerd project’ like that. She said she didn’t consider games to be art. Isn’t that horrible?” Nanami sounded personally offended. Hinata hadn’t seen her look annoyed very many times in the past. It was kind of cute.

“Ah, well… you could just find another writer, couldn’t you?”

“Maybe. I also thought about showing her some amazing games with great stories, so she could see that video games are art,” Nanami said. “But then final exams started, so we were all too busy to meet again.”

“Well,” Hinata said, “if you ever do get around to finishing it, I’d love to play it.”

“Really?” Nanami perked up. She paused her game to face him excitedly. “You’ll really play it?”

“Y-Yeah, of course,” Hinata replied, a little taken aback.

“It makes me happy to hear that.” Nanami closed her eyes and smiled at him. Her cheeks looked a little pink. “Thank you.”

Staring back at her, Hinata felt himself blush. Seeing that pure smile of hers, aimed straight at him and only him… it was almost too much for his heart to take. He was almost thankful when she went back at her game.

“Y-You’re welcome.”

* * *

That night, Hinata lay awake, turning Nanami’s words over in his head.

_What kind of things I enjoy doing, huh…_

It sounded like an incredibly easy question. And yet, no answer was coming to him.

During his time at Hope’s Peak, he hadn’t had a favorite class. Some classes were better than others – _anything_ beat English class, for example – but most lessons blended together into one amorphous blob. He hadn’t been involved in any clubs, and there hadn’t been any particular school activities that stood out to him. Home economics had been okay, not great. Music lessons were fine, nothing special. The athletic festivals were fun, but there wasn’t any one event he enjoyed more than all the others.

When Hinata recalled his fondest memories of Hope’s Peak, they were never about the classes or activities; they were always about the people he’d met.

If he had to say what he enjoyed the most, in all honesty, the answer was probably just “talking to people.”

In the end, what gave Hinata the most pride hadn’t been his grades, or any other kind of academic accomplishment. Instead, what he prided himself in was the bonds he’d formed with his friends.

A flood of different memories hit him all at once.

Kuzuryuu, looking away from him with his hands stuffed down the pockets of his suit, gruffly admitting that he liked being a part of his class. Souda clapping him on the back, saying how glad he was to finally have a friend he could believe in again. Tsumiki wringing her hands together in front of her chest, stammering out an invitation to hang out to together. Saionji wiping her tears away, declaring that she was going to become stronger so she could protect her dad. Komaeda slowly breaking into a smile, the first _real_ smile Hinata had ever seen on him, after he finally agreed to be  friends.

Those were the memories that made him feel most proud. Those memories were the reason he was so sure his decision to attend Hope’s Peak had been the right one, even though he hadn’t discovered a talent.

Hinata hadn’t thought any of it was unusual. He’d never thought that talking to people and forming bonds with them could be considered a skill. Anyone could do that. Anyone could be a good listener. That was what he’d always assumed.

But it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been wrong about that sort of thing.

* * *

Okay, so, maybe it was worth pursuing this whole counseling… thing.

But first, there was someone else he wanted to talk to: someone who, if nothing else, always offered him a unique perspective.

He and Komaeda ended up sequestered together in a quiet corner of the public library a few towns over. Why Komaeda had suggested that library instead of the one in town, Hinata didn’t know. But it wasn’t a huge hassle to take the bus, so he just went along with it.

Even though there was nobody around, Komaeda took his library etiquette very seriously. Hinata had to use a very quiet tone of voice as he told him about his new idea for a future career.

When he was done speaking, he folded his hands over the table, and waited for the other boy to respond. And eventually, he did.

“Isn’t that a bit presumptuous?” Komaeda said.

Hinata… pretty much saw that coming.

It didn’t really hurt. In a weird way, it was almost comforting to hear such a predictable response.

“Presumptuous? Why do you say that?” he asked. Though honestly, he could probably guess.

“Thinking that you can understand what’s going on in someone else’s head better than they can is the definition of presumptuous,” Komaeda said simply. “Especially since you don’t have a background in Psychology, or a unique ability for it… aren’t you just getting ahead of yourself?”

It was funny. Those were the exact words he’d been afraid of hearing the other day, when he told Nanami about his plans. But for whatever reason, hearing the exact thing he’d been so afraid of hearing from Komaeda didn’t bother him very much.

Maybe it was because he felt more firm in his convictions now… or maybe it was simply because he expected the other boy to argue with him. Maybe he’d even been seeking out that sort of response.

What Hinata sought out of conversations with Komaeda was different from what he sought out of conversations with Nanami. If he could rely on Nanami for optimism and encouragement, then he could just as easily rely on Komaeda to remind him of the many things that could go wrong. As someone whose Ultimate Luck caused things to go wrong all the time, that was Komaeda’s area of expertise.

So instead of going on the defensive, Hinata leveled with him.

“Maybe you have a point,” he allowed. “Maybe I am getting ahead of myself. But I already know I don’t have _any_ kind of ‘unique ability.’ I know I don’t have a talent. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to just resign myself to doing nothing for the rest of my life. I’m going to do _something_ to contribute to society. So it might as well be something I like, and something I’m better at than other things.”

After he finished, he expected Komaeda to try to argue with him some more. But that didn’t end up happening.

Instead, he just went back to his normal, cheerful expression and said, “Well, that’s just what I’d expect of Hinata-kun. You’ve always been so stubborn that you won’t give up, even if the odds are just impossible.”

He sure was good at making his compliments sound like insults. Hinata smiled wryly. “You _really_ don’t think I can do it, huh?”

“I didn’t say that,” Komaeda said. “What I want to know is, what made _you_ think you can do it?”

“Well…” Hinata rested his chin in his hand. “I was talking with some people. I talked to Souda, and he said he thought I was a good listener. At first, I didn’t buy it, but… when I thought about it some more… I thought that maybe he might have a point. Then I talked to Nanami, and she got me thinking about what I enjoy doing the most.”

“What you enjoy?”

“Yeah. And after that, I guess…” Hinata hesitated. He had to choose his next words carefully; he didn’t want to sound like he was full of himself, or like he had some kind of weird savior complex.

“I realized that what I enjoy the most is helping people,” he said slowly. “I like watching people become more confident and stop doubting themselves so much. Having someone who makes you realize that you’re not powerless, and that you can reach out and take control of your own future… I think that’s important. I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere if I hadn’t had people who did that for me,” he explained, thinking not just of Nanami, but of several other people as well: Yukizome-sensei, Monomi, even Maizono that one time… he’d had a lot of good influences.

Komaeda didn’t say anything in response. He just stared at Hinata, a small frown on his face. It wasn’t exactly encouraging.

“What’s the matter?” Hinata asked. “Still don’t have any confidence in me?”

“It’s not that. It’s just...” Komaeda brought a hand up to his chin, looking conflicted. “I don’t know how I feel about ‘counseling.’”

“Really?” Hinata asked, surprised. That hadn’t been what he’d expected to hear. “Why?”

“I have some doubts about whether it’s really necessary, and whether it’s a real profession. Ah,” he said quickly, putting up his hands, “not that I’d doubt someone who has a talent for it, of course.”

Hinata wrinkled his nose. “Seriously, _that’s_ your problem?” he asked. “I thought you’d love that sort of thing. Seeing people grow to the point where they can overcome challenges… isn’t that what you’re always going on about? Isn’t that ‘hope’?”

“That’s definitely something to inspire hope,” Komaeda agreed. “However, isn’t it more impressive when people use their own strength, rather than relying on others? To me, it’s even more amazing when people can muster the strength to pull themselves out of despair.”

Something about those words really didn’t sit right with him. There was a time when Hinata might have agreed, but nowadays, he didn’t feel that way. His time at Hope’s Peak had taught him that relying on others was normal. Trying to do everything yourself was recklessness, not strength.

It also sounded really lonely to him: having no one to rely on besides yourself. But Hinata knew exactly why Komaeda admired self-reliance; when he’d been struggling with the absurd and tragic events in his past, there hadn’t been anyone he could rely on, since everyone who cared about him was dead.

Hinata hoped that he knew better now; that he knew he wasn’t alone any more.

But just in case, it couldn’t hurt to remind him.

“Maybe some people are so amazing that they can do everything themselves,” he said carefully, “but I think most people need help at some point. And sometimes, having someone to talk to can be really useful. Talking to someone else can make you see things differently, or realize something you wouldn’t have realized on your own. You know what I mean… right, Komaeda?” he asked. He was thinking about all their strange conversations over the last three years. Often, it had been frustrating to talk to Komaeda, since they so seldom saw eye-to-eye. But nowadays, he definitely regarded those talks as worthwhile.

“Having another person to talk to…” Komaeda’s murmured. His voice trailed off. It seemed like he was recalling something in the past. Then, eventually, he nodded.

“Mm. I guess that can make a difference,” he agreed.

Hinata opened his mouth to respond, but before he could say anything, the topic was changed.

“So,” Komaeda asked abruptly, “how are your studies coming along so far?”

“Uh.” Hinata stared at him blankly. “I… haven’t started,” he admitted.

The look Komaeda sent him was so judgmental, it was almost comical.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Hinata groaned, slumping forward in his seat. “I hadn’t even decided for sure that this is something I want to do, or which college to aim for, so of course I haven’t started studying.” Though listening to himself speak, it sounded like he was just making excuses.

“Plus, I wanted to talk to some more people first. That’s why I called you out here,” he added.

“Wait.” Komaeda stared at him, uncomprehending. “Are you saying that… you care about my opinion?”

Hinata blinked. “Uh… yeah?” he said, bewildered. “I mean, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked.”

For some reason, this apparently came as a surprise. For a moment, Komaeda just looked shocked. But soon enough, his expression of shock melted into an overjoyed smile.

“I see… I’m so happy!” Komaeda laughed breathily, throwing his hands up in the air. “No one has ever wanted to hear what I have to say before!”

That… was just sort of depressing. Komaeda was also acting so differently from how he had been acting before that it gave Hinata whiplash. But that was nothing new when it came to their interactions, Hinata supposed.

“A-Anyway,” Hinata said, clearing his throat, “I didn’t just want to ask you about the whole counseling thing. I also just wanted to… catch up and stuff.”

“Catch up?” Komaeda asked.

“Like, with what you’ve been doing since graduation.”

“There’s not much to talk about,” Komaeda replied. “I’ve been spending most of my time here. Otherwise, I just stay at home.”

“You’re not looking for a job or anything?” Hinata asked with a frown.

“Not really.” Komaeda shrugged. “I have as much money as I’ll ever need, so I don’t need to work.”

Hinata _really_ had to bite his tongue not to say anything about that. He knew about the terrible circumstances that led Komaeda to acquiring all that money, but it wasn’t _quite_ enough to keep the incredulous look off his face.

“And even if I did need to work,” Komaeda continued, “there isn’t any job that’s safe for someone like me to have.”

Hinata shook his head. “That can’t be true. There has to be _something_.”

“There isn’t anything safe from my luck,” Komaeda argued, like it was simple and obvious. “Wherever I go, ‘it’ will always follow. Do you know why I asked to meet at this library, instead of the one in town?” he asked. When Hinata shook his head, he explained, “It’s because I can’t go back to the other one. The last time I went, there was a huge accident where several of the bookshelves got knocked over.”

“Seriously?!” Hinata asked, eyes wide.

“Mm. Nobody died, but one person did get injured: a little kid. There was some property damage as well. If you noticed that the library was temporarily closed for repairs last year, that was the reason why. Ah, I didn’t get banned or anything, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Komaeda said, holding up his hands. “In fact, the incident wasn’t traced back to me at all… but because I knew I was the cause of it, it would be wrong to continue going back there.”

Hinata just sat there, absorbing that story. The whole thing was ugly. The detail that it was a little kid who’d gotten hurt was especially disturbing. But, perhaps more than anything else… what bothered him the most was Komaeda’s casual tone of voice as he talked about it. Based on how he talked, it was clear he was resigned; like he’d just accepted that this was how things were always going to be, and that there was nothing he could do about it, other than try to stay out of the public as much as possible.

He’d probably never even considered getting a job until Hinata brought it up. Clearly, a normal life was something Komaeda considered out of reach.

“S-Still,” Hinata began, trying to shove down his feelings of helplessness. “You know you can’t just give up, right?”

“There isn’t anything to give up on,” Komaeda said. “I knew that having a job would be impossible, so I wasn’t planning on looking for one.”

Hinata shook his head. “That’s wrong. Even if something bad might happen, you can’t just… sit at home and do nothing for the rest of your life. And besides,” he pointed out, “you don’t know that your bad luck will continue forever. The future could be different.”

Rather than filling Komaeda with hope, Hinata’s words just seemed to irritate him.

“What proof do you have of that?” Komaeda frowned at him, running a hand through his hair the way he usually did when he was annoyed. “For as long as I’ve been alive, I’ve been tossed around by the cycle of good and bad luck. It’s irresponsible to say that might change when you don’t have any evidence.”

As much as he wanted to tell Komaeda in no uncertain terms that he was wrong, Hinata couldn’t do it. Truthfully, what Komaeda was saying wasn’t all wrong. It probably _was_ somewhat irresponsible of him to suggest that Komaeda’s luck could just go away. He hadn’t lived with Komaeda’s luck; he didn’t understand how it worked as well as Komaeda did. Telling the other boy to just let go of the worries he’d carried with him all his life wasn’t realistic.

But there was one thing Komaeda had said that wasn’t true: that Hinata didn’t have any evidence. Hinata had, in fact, caught one piece of evidence that he could use as refutation.

“‘ _For as long as I’ve been alive_ …’” he repeated. “Komaeda, that’s it!”

Komaeda blinked at him. “Huh?”

“You weren’t supposed to live this long, were you?” Hinata said. “Before you came to Hope’s Peak, the doctors told you that you have six to 12 months left to live… isn’t that right?”

“Yes,” Komaeda said, clearly not sure where he was going with this.

“Then… couldn’t that be ‘proof’ that your luck is wearing off?” Hinata suggested. “That diagnosis you received didn’t even come true. It’s been way more than 12 months since then.”

“That’s…” Komaeda looked away from him, but it was too late – based on his expression, Hinata could tell that this thought had occurred to him too.

“That can’t be considered proof of anything,” Komaeda denied. But after a moment, he lowered his voice and admitted, “Though… it’s true that I didn’t expect to live this long. Or rather, I hoped I wouldn’t, so I wouldn’t have to keep dealing with all this.”

“But you’re still alive,” Hinata pressed him, trying to get him to stop talking so negatively, to see the point he was trying to make. “And you don’t know how much longer you have left to live. It’s possible that it could be a really long time. You’ve lived long enough to graduate, so… doesn’t it make sense for you to think about what’s next?”

Komaeda didn’t say anything. He just stared. But maybe that was a good sign; that he wasn’t arguing.

“Right now, you have a future. So… you shouldn’t just resign yourself to being unhappy,” Hinata finished.

For a moment, there was silence. Komaeda looked down at the table, a complicated expression on his face.

“Maybe… you have a point,” he said slowly, and Hinata felt lightheaded with relief.

“It’s true that I haven’t felt very sick recently,” Komaeda admitted. “I guess it just seemed like if I acknowledged I was doing better, it’d be like I was asking for trouble.

So, he’d been afraid of jinxing it. Hinata had wondered if it was something like that.

“Honestly, I don’t know why I’m still alive.” Komaeda sighed a little. “Nothing too lucky or unlucky has happened to me recently. Which means that something truly horrible could be coming up… Or…”

“Or?” Hinata pressed.

“Or it just… stopped, and the cycle has ended,” Komaeda finished. “But that doesn’t seem very likely.”

“You never know,” Hinata said with a bit of a tired smile.

Komaeda went quiet after that. Hinata looked back down at the book he’d picked out, face down on the table. His real objective when meeting with Komaeda had been to talk, so he’d given no real thought to which book to pick out, and he’d already forgotten what it was about.

“You know,” Komaeda said, out of the blue, “maybe you’re my good luck charm.”

Hinata’s head jerked up.

“ _What?_ ”  

“I was just thinking about how long it’s been since something really lucky or unlucky has happened to me. If I had to pick a time when my luck stopped bothering me too much beyond everyday occurrences, it would have to be around the time we started talking more often,” Komaeda explained with a finger in the air. “So,” he said, lips curving into a smile, “maybe there’s something special about your presence that makes it all go away. You may possess a hidden talent after all: the Ultimate Good Luck Charm.”

Hinata had no good reply. He didn’t know if he was being flattered or mocked.

“T-That’s…” he sputtered, staring at Komaeda’s face, seeking out any sign that this was all a joke. “Y-You can drop the jokes already. We both know I don’t have a talent.”

“Well, of course not.” Komaeda laughed, high and breathy as always. “If you had a talent, they definitely would have uncovered it at Hope’s Peak. But… maybe it’s not such a bad thing that they didn’t,” he mused.

“What do you mean, ‘it’s not such a bad thing’?” Hinata repeated. He couldn’t help but sound incredulous. Komaeda hadn’t ragged on him for his lack of talent in a long time, but it was too much to accept that he’d suddenly adopted the complete opposite view. That would be too dramatic a change, even for a guy as weird as him.

“It’s kind of like… if you’d been born with a talent, you probably wouldn’t have worked as hard, you know?” Komaeda said. “But because you were a talentless person surrounded by talented people, you became the underdog who worked twice as hard as everyone else. I didn’t expect to feel this way, but, I found something attractive about that. The Hinata-kun who pushes forward with determination, despite his lack of talent: that’s the person I find really interesting. It’s like you have a unique aura, different from all the Ultimate students.”

To say that wasn’t a speech Hinata had been expecting to hear would be an understatement.

As Komaeda explained his thoughts, Hinata had to gape a little bit. Komaeda’s words conjured up a lot of conflicting feelings. He sounded condescending, but like he truly admired Hinata at the same time. Being told he had a different ‘aura’ from talented people kind of pissed him off, but Komaeda calling him “attractive” was undeniably flattering. He could feel his face starting to flush.

“Should I take that as a compliment, or an insult?” he asked, trying to keep his voice even as he fixed Komaeda with his usual look of exasperation.

“You can take it however you like,” Komaeda said cheerfully. And with another laugh, he finally returned to his book.

* * *

So, from what he could tell, Souda thought he could do it, Nanami thought he could do it, and Komaeda… _probably_  thought he could do it. Maybe.

After talking to his friends, Hinata felt confident enough to take the next step: approaching an adult who actually knew something about careers.

Yukizome-sensei may not have been his teacher, but she’d always been supportive. Before graduation, she told him he could always come to her if he needed advice. So, he ended up going back to Hope’s Peak for the first time in two months in order to meet with her.

When he told her that he was thinking about becoming a counselor, she smiled at him and said that sounded like a wonderful idea. Then she did two things for him: she arranged for him to shadow one of the Hope’s Peak guidance counselors for a day, and she gave him the contact information for the Ultimate Therapist – who, coincidentally, had been a student in her own class at Hope’s Peak.

Shadowing the guidance counselor wasn’t quite as enlightening as he hoped it would be. Mostly, the guy just went to meetings and typed stuff at his computer. Hinata was allowed to sit in on the meetings, but he dozed off during one of them, which was pretty embarrassing.

Meeting the Ultimate Therapist, though… that was a lot more interesting.

Hinata had been a little intimidated. Although he’d already made peace with the fact he had no talent, knowing that there was somebody with an Ultimate talent for the career he wanted to pursue still dealt a blow to his self-confidence. It served as a reminder that even if he did turn out to be good at this, there was a threshold he was never going to reach.

And though he was interested in finding out what kind of person someone with the Ultimate Therapist talent would be, he was also afraid of finding out that she was _nothing_ like him. He was afraid of finding out that he had the wrong personality for the profession, or something like that. His mental image of the Ultimate Therapist was someone extroverted and friendly, kind of like Yukizome-sensei.

But as it turned out, Gekkougahara Miaya wasn’t much like Yukizome-sensei. Instead of friendly and upbeat, she came across as calm and serious. Her personality reminded him a bit of Nanami’s… or, perhaps, his own.

He’d came prepared with a list of questions to ask her, from “What’s the paperwork load like?” to “What’s the most difficult part of the job?” As he went down the list, Gekkougahara calmly and thoughtfully answered all his questions. At first, he took notes, but before long he became too absorbed in what she was saying to write everything down.

“What are some common issues your clients come in to talk about?” he asked.

“That depends on the client’s age,” Gekkougahara replied. “Among people your age, there’s a lot of depression and anxiety. I see a lot of Hope’s Peak students and alumni.”

“Wait…” That caught Hinata off-guard. “Really?”

“Yes.” Gekkougahara nodded. “There are a lot of main course students who come in to talk about the pressure they feel to succeed, or to express discontent with how their future has seemingly been decided for them. Then there are numerous reserve course students who suffer from depression and low self-esteem. Although these are issues you’d observe among any student body, it would seem that an abnormally high percentage of students at Hope’s Peak Academy are struggling.”

Something about that explanation touched a nerve.

_Depression and low self-esteem, huh?_

What she said about reserve course students hit him really hard. Though what she said about main course students also hit him, just in a different way.

He’d never considered it much before: that it was hard to be a main course student. Pressure to succeed, and the feeling that you had no say in your own future… those were things he honestly hadn’t given much thought to. From where he’d been standing, main course students seemed immensely lucky, like they’d been handed the world on a silver platter. Obviously, he knew main course students could be dealing with some difficult things in their personal life, just like anyone else; his time with 77-B had taught him that. But overall, they seemed to have it pretty good. They didn’t have to wonder about what to do after graduation, or about whether or not they’d succeed. Being recognized by Hope’s Peak meant they should be set for life.

“Alumni, too?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied, still in that calm tone of voice. “The issues I just described aren’t always resolved during high school. Main course students who graduate and move on to be at the top of their field may experience an even more suffocating pressure than they felt during high school. Other main course students may come to realize that their talent was more of a hobby for them, and not something they wanted to do as a career. Yet after graduating, they feel locked into that path anyway. As for reserve course students, I hear from many who attended Hope’s Peak in order to be surrounded by greatness, or because they were hoping to discover a talent of their own. However, what commonly happens is that being surrounded by talented people causes them to judge themselves even more harshly and damages their self-esteem. Often, they end up regretting their decision to attend the school, feeling as though they got nothing in return for their money because no talent was discovered.”

When she finished, Hinata couldn’t say anything for a minute. He just sat there in stunned silence.

Everything she said about reserve course students, he could recognize in himself, and in the faceless people from his own class he never made any effort to talk to.

If he hadn’t met Nanami, or Monomi, or those other people who helped him realize that having talent wasn’t the goal, he probably would have ended up in a really bad place.

Helping people who currently going through the things he struggled with himself… was that something he’d be able to do? He didn’t have any experience.

But he was starting to wonder if maybe the fact he could relate so well to those feelings of failure and insecurity she just described might be an advantage, rather than a weakness. Maybe it was better to have struggled and overcome those feelings than to have always been confident in himself.

Hinata shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. There was still another question he wanted to ask.

“So, um, Gekkougahara-san…” Hinata looked at her for permission. This question was more personal, so he felt awkward asking. The look in Gekkougahara’s eyes seemed to say it was alright, though, so he went ahead.

“Were you one of those people who felt like your future had been decided for you?” he asked hesitantly. “Because of your talent, I mean.”

“No,” came Gekkougahara’s clear reply. “I won’t deny that being recognized by Hope’s Peak may have contributed to my decision, but even if I hadn’t been recognized, I’m sure I would have ended up on the same path,” she said confidently. “More than anything else, helping other people get better is what I enjoy doing. It can be challenging at times, but it’s a rewarding profession.”

Soon after that, their time was up. Gekkougahara had to go back to work, but before he left, she told him she’d be happy to answer any more questions he has at a later date.

Maybe he’d take her up on that some time. But at the moment, Hinata felt like he’d finally heard what he needed to hear.

* * *

“So… I guess I know what my plan is now,” he told Nanami.

They were hanging out at her apartment again. It had been a week since he spoke with Gekkougahara. And in that time, he’d done some more research, and become more confident in his plans.

“Really?” Nanami asked, pausing her game.

“Mm. I think I know which university I’m aiming for,” Hinata said. “I’ll study for the entrance exams, and then if I get in, I’ll be a Psychology major.”

“That’s great news.” Nanami smiled brightly, in that way that always made his heart beat faster. “I’m sure you’ll pass the entrance exams, Hinata-kun.”

“Thanks,” Hinata said, trying to convey with his own smile how grateful he was for her support. “The exams are eight months away, though, so in the meantime I need to find a job. I can tell my parents are already sick of me freeloading.” He laughed a little in self-deprecation.

“Maybe you could work at Games R Us!”

“Maybe,” Hinata allowed. Then he asked, “So, uh, done anything interesting lately?” He felt a little bad for always dominating the conversation recently.

“Just the other day, I met up with some of the girls for lunch,” Nanami said. She was back to looking down at her Game Girl screen (Tetris, this time), but Hinata was used to that by now.

“Really? How was it?”

“It was good. We went to a fancy café, with tea and cakes. I’d never been to one of those before. Usually when I need food, I order it online, instead of taking the time to go out in public.”

Hinata laughed a little at that. For a former class rep who was so good at reaching out to others, Nanami really sounded like a shut-in sometimes.

“How are all the girls doing?” he asked.

“Well, Pekoyama-san and Sonia-san weren’t there. Pekoyama-san couldn’t afford to leave her position, apparently. And Sonia-san is back in her home country. Though, she said she’d come back and visit often, now that she has her own private jet.”

_Her own private jet?!_

“That’s, uh, pretty amazing,” Hinata managed to say. Royalty sure was something else.

“Mm. As for the others… I think they’ve been having fun,” Nanami said. “Mioda-san is working on a new album. Tsumiki-san is working as a nurse at the general hospital. Koizumi-san is studying at a design school. And Saionji-san is giving performances and teaching dance classes now, I think.”

“I see.” Hinata couldn’t help but notice the fact that everyone she’d talked about was doing something related to their talent. Normally, he’d just accept that as a given. But after what Gekkougahara had said, he couldn’t help but wonder about that. He hoped none of them felt like they had to keep doing what Hope’s Peak had recognized them for if they didn’t want to. But he knew all the people Nanami had just mentioned, and they all seemed pretty enthusiastic about their talents when he talked to them.

It made him a little envious, too: everyone being so sure of their talents and their own futures. But not as envious as it once would have.

“I don’t know what Owari-san is doing, because she didn’t really talk much,” Nanami continued. “Mostly she just ate cakes. But I think she’s doing well. Did you know that Koizumi-san and Saionji-san are living together now?”

“Ah, really?” Hinata asked, a little surprised. He’d kind of just assumed everyone either moved back in with their families, or got their own apartments.

“Mm. I think that sounds nice, to have someone to room with. It’s quite common to have roommates, when you’re just out of high school… or so I’ve heard.”

For a second there, Hinata wondered if Nanami was implying something. But no, that couldn’t be right. At least… he didn’t think so.

Girls rooming together wasn’t unusual. Guys rooming together wasn’t unheard of. A girl and a guy splitting an apartment together, though… that only happened when they were dating, right?

But he was probably reading way too much into it.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” he said, trying to sound casual.

“Tsumiki-san asked about you, by the way,” Nanami said next, without looking up from her game.

Yeah… she clearly hadn’t meant anything by that comment. He’d been getting way ahead of himself.

He couldn’t decide whether he was disappointed or relieved to know she hadn’t been suggesting they… move in together, or something.

Roughly, Hinata shook his head, trying to just focus on what she was saying.

“Tsumiki-san?” he asked.

“Mm. I think she’d like to see you again,” Nanami said. And then, as an afterthought, she added, “I’m sure everyone else would, too.”

Hinata smiled. He hadn’t forgotten the plans he’d made, with Nanami and Souda and Kuzuryuu: to get the whole class together for a New Year’s celebration. But that was, of course, many months away.

“We should all get together sometime,” he said. “Since I graduated, I’ve only seen you, Souda and Komaeda.”

“Komaeda-kun?” Nanami asked.

“Yeah.” Hinata nodded, even though Nanami wasn’t looking at him. “I told him about my plans and stuff.”

“How is he?”

“He’s…” Hinata paused. On the one hand, he didn’t want to worry her. But on the other hand, he didn’t want to lie.

“Komaeda’s the same as always, pretty much,” he admitted. “But I think he’ll be okay. Or at least… I hope so, anyway.”

“I see.” Nanami had her game on pause again, but she was staring down at the screen anyway, a small frown on her face. She sounded regretful as she said, “I tried to reach out to all my classmates, but… I never felt like I understood Komaeda-kun, no matter how hard I tried. So, I’m glad Hinata-kun is there to be his friend.”

Hinata blinked at her. Something about the way she was talking kind of worried him. Maybe it was just that she’d paused her game. But to him, it sounded like she had more on her mind than just her regrets as Komaeda’s former classmate.

“I’m glad too,” he said, a little taken aback. “But… you don’t need to worry too much. I’m sure you did your best. He’s just difficult to talk to sometimes.”

“Mm. Maybe... you’re right.”

Then, abruptly, she shut off her game and stood up from her chair.

“I’m going to play a different game now,” she announced. “Would you like to be Player 2? You brought your Game Boy today, right?”

It still didn’t quite feel right: that conversation, and how suddenly it had ended. But Hinata went along with her whims anyway.

“Sure,” he said. “Hang on, let me go get it.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here's the next part, posted less than 48 hours after the first. It was already done, so I figured why not? 
> 
> The third and final chapter isn't done yet, and I figure I'll give some time for people to find this fic and read the first two chapters before posting. But it’ll be out soon enough.
> 
> Hope you enjoy Part 2, which includes Hinata discovering the joy of food service, a cameo from Kuzuryuu, and Komaeda continuing to be absolutely terrible at flirting. The worst. Someone help this boy.

Although he’d marked the day of the college entrance exam on his calendar, studying wasn’t his most immediate priority. The exam wasn’t until January. First, he wanted to find a job.

It was partly because he wanted to move out of his parents’ house. But there was also the matter of paying for university; if he got in, that was going to cost money. Hinata knew roughly what kind of future he wanted for himself now, but unfortunately, that future wouldn’t be free. It wasn’t as though he had a scholarship.

The trouble was that he’d never worked before, and he didn’t have any unique abilities. With no experience and no special skills, he didn’t really have a choice other than to rely on his friends for help finding a job.

Hanamura was the one who came through for him. Since graduating, Hanamura had apparently been devoting all his time to the family business. With a Hope’s Peak graduate in charge, the business had flourished, and more and more Hanamura Diners were popping up in every city. And more diners meant they needed more staff.

“I can’t exactly let you do any cooking,” Hanamura said, twiddling his thumbs guiltily. “Sorry, but we take our business too seriously for that… you understand, right?”

“Yeah, I figured,” Hinata assured him. “But you could probably use more waiters or something, right?”

Hanamura perked up considerably. “Oh, if that’s the kind of job you want, that’s no trouble at all. I can put in a good word for you. You won’t even need to interview if you have my recommendation.”

“R-Really?” Hinata was surprised. Things usually didn’t work out that easily for him. “Thanks a lot! I owe you one.”

“You owe me one… huh?”

Hanamura’s voice was low. His expression was strange. His eyes had a strange gleam in them, and – was that a _nosebleed?_

“I’ll be holding you to that, Hinata-kun,” he said in a tone that was unmistakably lustful.

Hinata took that as his cue to get the hell out. “Right, well, I’ve got to go now,” he said, scurrying out of his chair. “Thanks again, I’ll see you around.”

And that was the story of how Hinata Hajime landed his first-ever job. His parents just kind of shrugged when he told them, but his friends congratulated him, which was nice. It wasn’t a big deal, but it was nice to have their support.

What he didn’t expect, though, was that his friends would start showing up at his workplace immediately during his shifts.

“Hey, there’s a girl with really weird hair who’s asking for you,” one of his co-workers told him on his second day of work.

“Really?” Hinata asked, stopping to look over his shoulder at him. He had to be careful not to unbalance the tray full of drinks he was carrying.

“Yeah. She asked for ‘ _Hajime-chan_.’”

If the “weird hair” comment hadn’t given it away, that form of address definitely did.

“Got it. Thanks for telling me,” he said as he headed off.

“That’s not your girlfriend or anything, is it?” his co-worked called after him.

“No,” Hinata said. _Not that it’s any of your business_ , he stopped himself from adding. He hadn’t been there long enough to feel comfortable joking around with any of the other staff.

“Yeah,” the guy laughed. “I didn’t think your taste was that weird.”

The first time, it was Mioda. She kept him on his toes by ordering tons of different sweets. He also learned that she was the type who couldn’t make up her mind; she must have changed her order ten different times. It was a little exhausting, but she left behind a generous tip, along with a copy of a CD she wanted him to check out. So, in the end, he was happy.

The next time, it was Nidai and Owari. Hinata saw them walk in together while he was taking another table’s orders, but still managed to get to them first before any other staff.

“Oi, Hinata!” Nidai called out as he walked over.

“Hey, guys,” he greeted them. Neither of them looked like they’d changed much since graduation. Owari had traded her school uniform for athletic wear, and her hair was longer than he remembered. But otherwise, they looked the same.

While he subtly glanced them over, he noticed Nidai sizing him up as well. After looking Hinata up and down, he nodded in satisfaction.

“It’s good to see you’ve become a strong man who can earn a living for himself,” Nidai said.

“Thanks,” Hinata laughed. That appraisal may have been a little overdramatic, but he appreciated it all the same. “It’s good to see you, too. And you, Owari.”

“Yeah, you too, Hamada,” Owari said. “Can we order now?”

Hinata’s lips quirked up. “Sure. What’ll it be?”

“We’ll be getting a plate of wings, a plate of cheeseburger sliders, and two orders of steak with fries!” Nidai boomed.

“A-Anything to drink?” he asked, a little incredulous. He didn’t know whether they planned to eat all of that by themselves, and frankly, he didn’t want to know.

“No thank you. We already brought our protein shakes,” Nidai replied, gesturing to his backpack.

There was a rule about how you couldn’t bring your own food or drink, but since the business was run by Hanamura, Hinata figured there was an exception for former classmates.

“Alright,” he said, jotting down their order. “Coming right up.”

Before he knew it, about half of his friends had visited him at the diner. The Imposter arrived one day and ordered a truly breathtaking amount of food. Koizumi stopped by with some friends from her design school. Tanaka came by as well, and much to Hinata’s relief, he had the sense to leave his hamsters at home. His unusual appearance drew some stares, but he seemed to find the vegetarian menu to his liking, and he left a nice tip.

Nanami came by, too, which he supposed was nice of her; he hadn’t forgotten what she’d said about never bothering to leave the house for food. She sat by herself in one of the booths, Game Girl Advance out on the table in front of her. After Hinata served her, she played her game with one hand and directed chocolate cream pie into her mouth with the other, never once looking up from the screen. It was an impressive display of coordination.

“She’s really cute,” Hinata’s co-worker remarked. It was the same guy who'd asked if he was dating Mioda.

For some reason, that kind of pissed Hinata off. He could see the guy’s next question coming from a mile away.

“Is she your gir—” he started, but Hinata cut him off.

“A really big group just came in. Could you go take care of them?”

“Ah… sure,” the guy said, and headed over to the door.

And that was how Hinata’s first few weeks on the job went. It was pretty hectic, but thankfully he got the hang of it fast. And being visited by so many of his friends from Hope’s Peak was honestly pretty nice; it seemed to give the other staff the impression that he was a popular guy, which he kind of enjoyed, if he was being honest with himself.

He knew that some of his friends weren’t likely to show up, though. Kuzuryuu and Pekoyama were probably busy. Saionji probably thought diner food was beneath her. And Komaeda, well – Komaeda would probably worry that his luck would cause a fire in the kitchen or something.

That was what Hinata assumed. So he was pretty surprised when, one sunny Friday afternoon, Komaeda walked right through the doors.

“Welcome to the Hanamura Diner. What can I—”

Hinata glanced over to the door when the bell jingled, then did a double-take when he saw who it was. He stared as Komaeda stood there and waited to be seated at the entrance. It took him a minute to realize he’d stopped talking mid-sentence.

“Uh, sorry about that,” he said to the elderly couple he was serving. “What can I get for you?”

By the time Hinata was free to go check on him, Komaeda was already sitting alone at one of the booths, reading the menu.

“Komaeda?”

“Ah!” Komaeda looked up. “Good afternoon, Hinata-kun.” He paused, glancing him over. “Or should I call you _Hajime-_ kun?”

Hinata’s reaction was immediate and physical. He jerked backwards, eyes going wide, and he felt his heart leap in his chest.

 _Why_ he’d experienced that strong a reaction to Komaeda calling him by his given name, he didn’t know. He didn’t want to think about it too hard.

He hadn't been subtle at all, either. Komaeda seemed to notice how uncomfortable he was, because his carefree smile quickly turned apologetic.

“It’s what your nametag says,” he explained.

“Ah…”

Hinata looked down at his nametag. It did, indeed, have his given name on it. This had been explained to him when he was first given his uniform; it was restaurant policy. The idea was to make the place feel more like an American diner, or something. Probably Hanamura’s idea. Very few customers called him by name, though, so he’d forgotten.

“R-Right,” Hinata said awkwardly.

“Sorry.” Komaeda stared down at his hand, looking even more awkward than Hinata had to. “It looks like I said something gross and upset you…”

“I’m not upset,” Hinata told him. No, _upset_ was not the right word for how he’d felt when Komaeda said his name like that… quickly, he shoved that thought away.

“Do you, uh, come here often?” he asked, trying to ease the awkward atmosphere.

Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick. “Mm, I’ve been here many times since the place opened,” Komaeda said. “Even though the food wasn’t personally prepared by Hanamura-kun, it’s still nice to see an Ultimate-level student’s business succeed. Just think – soon enough, the entire country of Japan may be covered in Hanamura Diners!” he exclaimed, voice growing breathless with excitement. “Isn’t that truly a thought to inspire hope?”

Hinata couldn’t quite hide his exasperation. “I don’t know if that’s ‘hope’,” he said carefully, “but that would be pretty amazing.”

“Well, that’s part of the reason I came here, anyway,” Komaeda said cheerfully.

“What’s the other part?” Hinata asked.

“Why, getting to see you in action, of course.”

Hinata raised his eyebrows. “Not much ‘action’ goes on here besides bringing out dishes and wiping tables, you know.” Though, of course, that hadn’t stopped half of Hinata’s other friends from swinging by.

“Still, it’s interesting to see you when you’re at work,” Komaeda said. “Since we obviously weren’t in the same class, I only got to see you work hard during the athletic tournaments… and I didn’t really appreciate it properly back then.”

Hinata stared at him, processing what he said.

He could still remember the athletic festival during their first year, when he’d subbed in for a main course boy during the basketball tournament. He’d felt so insecure back then, when Komaeda challenged him, reminding him of his lack of talent. That feeling had gradually worn off as the tournament went on and he performed up to everyone’s standards… but he did notice that there was one person in the stands who didn’t cheer for him.

Could that be what Komaeda was referring to? It happened so long ago, but… maybe he wanted to apologize.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hinata said. It was his way of saying, _apology accepted_. “Though I seriously don’t think there’s going to be anything interesting to see here,” he added.

“Seeing you in that uniform is interesting enough.”

Hinata froze, staring straight at the other boy in shock.

There was no way Komaeda meant that the way it sounded. No way at all.

…right?

“Is there something wrong with it?” Hinata asked slowly. “If you think it looks stupid on me, you can just say so.”

“It doesn’t look stupid,” Komaeda said. Then, abruptly, he asked, “Is it okay for me to keep you for so long while you’re working? I haven’t even ordered yet.”

“R-Right.”

Hinata snapped out of it and took his notepad out of his pocket. “What do you want?”

“Could I get the house salad?”

“And to drink?” Hinata asked, jotting that down.

“Ah, I already have something,” he said, and pulled out a bottle of Blue Ram from his jacket pocket.

“Okay,” Hinata said, and walked off to the kitchen. Idly, he wondered to himself how Hanamura would feel if he knew what lousy restaurant etiquette all his classmates had.

It wasn’t a very interesting train of thought. But Hinata would rather wonder about that than spend his time trying to figure out whether or not Komaeda had been hitting on him, and how he felt about it if he had been.

* * *

It took a few months of full-time work, and a bit of help from his parents, but Hinata eventually scraped together enough money to move out. He got a small, one-bedroom apartment in the city, cheaply-furnished with only the basic necessities.

Moving out wasn’t quite as bad as he thought it would be. He didn’t have that many possessions, and his friends were willing to help him move the things he did have. Nidai could carry a staggeringly large number of boxes in his muscular arms. Owari was willing to help, too, as long as Hinata kept offering her snacks.

At the end of the day, as Hinata flopped down on his bed in his own apartment for the first time, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of pride at having taken the first steps into adulthood. Then he promptly fell asleep, since his body was so tired from moving.

Next time he and Nanami hung out, he decided to take advantage of his newfound independence and invite her to his place.

“Pardon the intrusion,” Nanami said politely, as she padded into the entrance hall and kicked off her shoes by the door.

“Wow, so this is Hinata-kun’s home,” she murmured, looking around curiously.

“You like it?” Hinata asked. He felt a little self-conscious about how bare the place was. Nanami’s apartment was pretty small too, but it had some decorations at least; a colorful knit blanket draped over the couch here, a pastel pink clock on the wall over there. Not to mention that she had her gaming systems and massive selection of games.

“Mm. It’s not very big, but it looks cozy. And there’s enough room for games, and other important things… though, I don't see a Play Station,” Nanami observed as they crossed into his living room. “Or a TV.”

The living area was probably the most barren in the house. He didn’t even have the money for a sofa at the moment, let alone a TV. He just had a couple of comfy chairs in front of a stand that wasn’t actually displaying anything.

“Ah, well, I’m kind of broke at the moment,” Hinata admitted with a wince. It was embarrassing, but there was no use hiding it. “Once I make some more money, though, I’ll definitely buy stuff like that… want to go sit over there, instead?” he asked, gesturing to the kitchen table.

Once they walked into the kitchen, Hinata realized he hadn’t put his practice tests away. The table still had a ton of tests, answer guides, pencils and highlighters spread out on it. He went to go move everything out of the way.

“How’s the studying going?”

“It’s… okay, I guess, but I’ve really got to do more,” Hinata said with a sigh, as he moved his study guides off the table. “Some of the practice tests are hard. I’ll probably ask Komaeda for help, or something.”

“Komaeda-kun?” Nanami asked curiously.

“Yeah... I mean, he’s pretty smart, and I don’t think he’s busy,” Hinata explained. “We already hang out at the library together, anyway.”

“I see. It’s good that you have Komaeda-kun, then.”

Something about the way Nanami said that sounded… off to him. Her voice had a strange quality to it.

When he turned around, though, Nanami was smiling at him normally. So maybe it had just been his imagination.

“Whenever you need a study break you can count on me, okay?” she said.

Hinata smiled. “Thanks. I think playing games would be a good way to take my mind off things.”

“Would you like to play right now?”

“Sure, if you want.”

Hinata went to his room to fetch his Game Boy, and they started a game of _Tetris Attack_. 

“I’ll have to buy you some more multiplayer games for your birthday,” Nanami said without looking up from the screen.

Hinata was tempted to tell her she didn’t need to spend the money on him, but he supposed he did buy _her_ small gifts fairly often. And playing games together seemed to make her happy. So he should probably just accept it.

“Thanks,” he said instead. Casting around for a topic of conversation, he remembered something he hadn’t asked her about in a while. “How’s your game project coming along – the one you were going to make with Fujisaki and those other people?”

“We’re still in the planning stages,” Nanami replied. “But everything is going well, I think. We managed to get Fukawa-san on board, after we promised to give her lots of creative control. Fujisaki-kun has been working hard at programming, and Yamada-kun has been working hard at character design… Though, we had to send back some of the girls’ designs, because the armor was too sexy, and the chests were too big.”

Hinata laughed awkwardly. He hadn’t met Yamada before, but he sounded like the type of guy who’d get along with Hanamura. “I see.”

“He said he’s been designing heroines for eroge at his new job,” Nanami continued, “so that’s probably why.”

Hinata sputtered. “ _E-Eroge?!_ What’s that?”

“They’re kind of like dating sims, except they don’t always have stat-raising. Basically, you choose a girl whose route you want to go down, and then you date her and trigger her h-scenes,” Nanami explained.

“Is something like that even a game?” he asked incredulously.

“Most of them don’t have any gameplay, so they’re more like interactive novels, I think. Though some of them are just erotic scenes without any story.”

Hinata was struck by how casual she sounded, like she wasn’t embarrassed at all. He, on the other hand, could feel his face growing hotter by the second. Hearing words like “erotic” come out of Nanami’s mouth made him feel… strange.

“Do you, uh, play stuff like that yourself?” he asked, because he wasn’t sure what else to say, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth he wanted to kick himself. What if she called him a pervert for asking? It’s not like he’d feel comfortable answering if their positions were reversed, and Nanami had asked him about _his_ porn habits. That just wasn’t something you were supposed to talk about… especially not with girls.

Thankfully, it didn’t sound like his question offended Nanami, or even surprised her.

“I’ll try any of game once,” she said simply. “Though… I’m really bad at dating sims,” she added with a frown.

“Dating-sims?” he asked, relieved that she’d changed the subject.

“Mm. I never know how to pick the right dialogue options, or what to wear on dates, or things like that. That’s why I wondered if we could play together sometime, so you could help me.”

Hinata didn’t have any reason to think he’d be any better at dating-sims than Nanami. He’d never been on a date, in a video game or in real life. But if Nanami wanted to play them with him, then…

“I could try,” he offered. Though honesty compelled him to add, “I’ve never played one before, though, so I don’t know if I’d be any good at it.”

“I figured that was the case. But, I thought it might be fun for us to play one together anyway,” Nanami said. “Anything would be fun, if it’s with Hinata-kun,” she added, her voice growing quieter, taking on an almost dreamlike quality. “…that’s the feeling I get.”

Something about her words, the tone of her voice, caused Hinata’s heart to beat faster. The atmosphere in the room kept growing heavier and heavier. It felt like this was all leading up to something. He couldn’t pay any attention to what was happening on the screen of his Game Boy any longer.

“But,” Nanami spoke up again suddenly, her voice sounding firm this time, “it’s okay if you don’t want to try it with me. We don’t have to play everything together. You can play with someone else if you want… okay? I won’t mind.”

That… didn’t seem like a normal thing to say. It felt like there was a double meaning hidden in her words.

_Why do I get the feeling she’s not talking about games anymore?_

Hinata jerked his head up from his game, staring at her openly. “Nanami—” 

He tried, but before he could confront her, he was interrupted by the sound of their game systems. The sound of horns erupted from the devices. Both sides of the screen on his game filled up up with blocks, then dissipated. In bold lettering it said “WINNER: PLAYER 1.”

“Ah, I won,” Nanami announced, sounding utterly unsurprised. “You should practice more, Hinata-kun.”

For a long moment, Hinata just stared at her. She looked normal. She sounded normal. All traces of that weird seriousness she’d shown a minute ago were gone.

He knew he should push her, confront her about the true meaning of what she was saying. He knew they needed to resolve this, whatever this was. But in the end, he was too cowardly to face that awkward atmosphere again, along with his own uncertain feelings.

So he just let it go.

“I’ll… have to do that, yeah,” was all he said.

* * *

“Hmm…” Komaeda hummed to himself he reached the bottom of the answer sheet.

It was the first Saturday in November. They were back in the public library they always used as a meeting place, but this time they’d claimed one of the study rooms.

With only two and a half months until the entrance exam, Hinata had begun seriously cracking down on those practice tests. But in all honesty, at this point, he wasn’t sure how much good it was doing. At first he’d been making steady progress, but recently he felt like he’d hit a wall.

“Well?” Hinata asked. “How did I do?”

“Your score hasn’t gone up any since last time, I’m afraid,” Komaeda told him apologetically.

Hinata groaned, slouching over the desk with his head in his hands. He knew he shouldn’t even be surprised, considering how his study sessions had been going recently, but he’d still gotten his hopes up anyway.

“To be honest, that was about what I expected,” Komaeda admitted. “You seemed kind of distracted. Is something bothering you?”

“Not really,” Hinata sighed. “I guess I’m just tired.” He knew it was a weak excuse, but between working full-time, studying for the exam, and having to deal with newfound adult responsibilities like shopping and paying rent, he’d felt pretty exhausted recently. Sometimes in his lowest moments, he wondered if he’d even be able to handle the work if he _did_ get into university.

“People our age should be getting eight hours of sleep each night, you know,” Komaeda said helpfully.

“I know that already,” Hinata said, a little exasperated. Recently he’d noticed Komaeda had some unexpected mother hen tendencies.

“Hmm, what can I do to help Hinata-kun improve his scores…” Komaeda mused. “Maybe I could offer you a reward? Then you might do better.”

“A reward?” Hinata repeated, skeptical.

“Mm. Like, ‘If you get _this_ high a score, I’ll clean your entire apartment for you’… or something like that.”

Hinata raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that backwards? You’re the one who’s spending your free time helping me. It doesn’t make sense for you to do extra stuff on top of that.”

Komaeda shook him off with a wave of his hand. “I don’t mind. It’s no trouble at all.”

“Well… I don’t need you to be my housekeeper. My place is so small that cleaning doesn’t take very long,” Hinata said, though that wasn’t exactly true. His place _was_ small, but taking care of all the chores was admittedly a pretty big adjustment for him, since he was used to his parents doing all that stuff.

But he still wasn’t going to use one of his friends as a maid. That’d just be weird.

“I see.” Komaeda cast his eyes down, clearly disappointed. “Unfortunately, cleaning is the one thing I’m any good at. I’m sorry there aren’t any other services I can offer you as a re—”

“That’s wrong,” Hinata cut in.

Komaeda blinked at him. “Huh?”

“Cleaning isn’t the only thing you’re good at. You could do a lot more than that if you tried,” Hinata told him seriously.

“There isn’t anything else,” Komaeda said. “If there was, I would have discovered it by now.”

“That’s not true,” Hinata insisted, frustrated by how many times they’d had this exact conversation, and how it never seemed to do any good. “Even if you don’t have a specific talent, you’re still one of the smartest people I’ve ever met.”

“Isn’t that kind of rude?” Komaeda frowned at him. “You met so many amazing people at Hope’s Peak. Calling me one of the smartest is just doing them a disservice. Compared to those other people, I’m really stupid.”

“You _didn’t even need to look_ at the answer sheet for the reading section because you’d _already read_ all the books on the test, _and_ you remembered them well enough to know all the answers,” Hinata said incredulously. “If that’s not ‘smart’, then what _is_?”

“That’s…” Komaeda looked taken aback, though Hinata couldn’t tell if it was _what_ he said that startled him, or the forcefulness of his voice. “Reading a lot isn’t the same thing as being smart,” he argued. “I wouldn’t be good enough to write my own book, or even critique someone else’s writing.”

“You don’t know that. Have you even tried?” Hinata asked flippantly. “And even if you were right about those two things things, there’s got to be something else you could use your abilities for.”

Komaeda didn’t say anything more, didn’t even look at him. He just stared down at the table, like a child being admonished.

Hinata sighed. “Komaeda… we’re friends, right?”

“Yes,” Komaeda said quietly after a moment.

“Then…” Hinata took a deep breath. “If I say I believe in you, as your friend… doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Hearing that from you would mean more to me than anything,” Komaeda said right away.

Hinata froze.

That… wasn’t what he’d expected.

He’d been worried Komaeda would say that no, it doesn’t mean anything. More likely than that, he’d expected Komaeda to go silent, and take a while to accept his words. He hadn’t expected him to say _that_.

All along, Hinata had never really known where he stood with Komaeda. He never knew which words would get through to him and which ones would be dismissed. Sometimes he wasn’t even sure if Komaeda really valued their friendship, or if he was just lonely and didn’t have anyone better to spend time with. He didn’t _think_ that was the case, but it was hard to tell sometimes.

So being told, in no uncertain terms, that Komaeda really did care about him – that he put _so_ _much value_ in whether or not Hinata believed in him– was enough to disarm him completely. He gaped at the other boy, face quickly growing red.

“U-Uh…” he stammered.

“A-Ah…”

Komaeda seemed to recognize that what he'd just said was a big deal. He probably hadn’t meant to say it at all. His eyes were wide, his face was flushed, and he was stammering too. Hinata had never seen him act like that before.

It was kind of… cute.

As much as he _really_ didn’t want to admit that to himself.

Hinata shook his head, trying to get those thoughts to go away, and faced the other boy head-on.

“I-If…” He took a deep breath, trying to get his voice under control. “If that’s how you really feel, then… you should listen to what I’m telling you.”

Komaeda sighed a little. His lips curled into a worried frown. “I still don’t know what would be safe for me to do.”

“You went to high school without any terrible accidents happening, right? At the school itself, I mean,” he clarified when Komaeda opened his mouth to correct him. “So, that means going to school should be safe. I don’t see why university would be any more dangerous than high school. And I _know_ you’d have no trouble passing the exam.”

“I don’t know what I’d be going there to study,” Komaeda said slowly. “But… maybe I’ll think about it.”

A wave of relief washed over him, so intense it was almost dizzying. Maybe that wasn’t a clear _yes_ , but it felt like a hard-won victory nevertheless.

“Just think about what you’d enjoy the most,” Hinata suggested, trying to offer him an encouraging smile. “That’s what Nanami told me.”

“What I enjoy, huh…” Komaeda murmured, looking momentarily lost in thought. But then his expression cleared back to normal. “I’ll think about that some other time. For now, we’re supposed to be helping you prepare for exams.” He sent Hinata an accusatory look. “…were you hoping I’d get distracted?”  

“It’s not like that,” Hinata said, smiling wryly. “We just got a bit off-topic. Hand me the next practice test.”

* * *

On December 1st, Hinata ran into someone very unexpected as he was leaving work.

Literally, he _ran_ into the guy. Right after he walked out the restaurant door, they collided.

“Sorry—” he said automatically.

“Oi, watch where you’re going,” came a voice he’d recognize anywhere.

Hinata pulled back to stare in surprise. “—Kuzuryuu?!”

“Hey,” Kuzuryuu said.

He looked gruff as usual, slouching with his hands in his pockets. He was dressed warmly to combat the chilly winter air, but he was wearing all black as usual. He didn’t look different at all, really; he still had the same short stature and the same babyface. Not that Hinata had any intention of voicing that observation aloud, of course, since he didn’t have a death wish.

“Hey!” he replied, surprised but happy. “It’s good to see you again.”

“…Sorry I haven’t been around.” Kuzuryuu ducked his head. “Now that I’m head of the family, I can’t just fuck off whenever I want. But I had nothing I needed to do today, and Souda told me when your shift ends, so…”

Hinata just nodded. As far as he was concerned, there wasn’t anything to apologize for. “Want to go get something to eat?” he asked. “You can tell me all about it... Let’s, uh, go someplace else though,” he added, gesturing at the diner. “No offense to Hanamura, but I’m kind of tired of being there all day.”

Kuzuryuu shrugged. “Lead the way. You know what’s around here better than I do.”

They ended up at a family restaurant, one that was thankfully fully within Hinata’s price range. Hinata sat across from Kuzuryuu in one of the booths and listened to him talk about what he’d been doing since graduation. Everything he said was so far outside the realm of Hinata’s experiences that he could hardly picture it; it sounded like stuff from one of those yakuza movies. But Hinata just did what he always did when talking to talented people: tried to focus on the person’s feelings, rather than their absurd experiences.

What he discovered was that Kuzuryuu felt weighed down by everyone’s expectations. He was under a lot of pressure to be the son his parents want him to be, to do the family name proud, and to live up to the title that was bestowed upon him by Hope’s Peak. He was tired and overworked, boxed in by a future that had long ago been decided for him.

In other words, he felt the same way most main course students felt after graduating, according to Gekkougahara.

Somehow, though, Hinata had a feeling that Kuzuryuu wouldn’t react well if he recommended him a therapist. He’d probably threaten to punch him out if he tried.

“It’s not like I was expecting to get vacation days,” Kuzuryuu said, pushing his fork around on his plate. “You don’t get any time off from being the head of the biggest fucking yakuza family around. It’s just…” He set his fork down and fidgeted with his suit, looking away from Hinata wish a blush. “I’ve m-missed hanging out with you guys and stuff. Since… you were my first friends.”

Hinata smiled, appreciating the other boy’s honesty in the face of his embarrassment. “I missed you too,” he said. “Sometime when you’re free, we should all do something together.”

“You’re still having that party, right?” Kuzuryuu asked.

Hinata stared at him blankly. “…Huh?”

“That New Year’s thing we talked about… remember?”

He didn’t know what Kuzuryuu was talking about it. It took him a second of searching his brain before it came to him. “ _Oh!_ ”

That’s right… the New Year’s party. The one they planned together with Souda before they graduated.

Honestly, it had completely slipped his mind. He hadn’t been thinking about how New Year’s was coming up, or Christmas, or his own birthday. He’d spent so long dreading the entrance exam in January that he’d pretty much forgotten all the winter holidays.

“Tch. You totally forgot, huh.” Kuzuryuu saw right through him.

“Sorry,” Hinata said with a grimace. “It’s just that I’ve been busy with work, and studying for the entrance exam and stuff... But yeah, I’d love to do something like that. It’d be great to see everyone again.”

“Better start planning, then,” Kuzuryuu said brusquely. “I may be busy most days, but if you need any help, I can always talk over the phone.”

“Thanks,” Hinata said. “Guess the first thing we need to do is figure out where to have it.”

“Why not just have it at your place?”

“My place is a shoebox,” Hinata said with a wry smile. “I don’t think sixteen people would even fit in there.”

“Huh.” Kuzuryuu frowned. As a rich kid, he probably couldn’t quite picture it. “At least you moved out, though. That’s something.”

Hinata shrugged. He wondered if Kuzuryuu envied his freedom as much as he envied Kuzuryuu’s financial security.

Sipping his orange juice, he gave some more thought to their dilemma. “I think we’re going to run into the same problem if we ask the others,” he mused, “since a lot of them probably live in small apartments now. The ones who live in bigger places probably still live with their family, and I don’t know how many families would be crazy about having that many people over.” Especially people as loud and rambunctious as Class 77-B. Mioda alone was loud enough for 16 people.

“Yeah, my family wouldn’t put up with that. Not that you’d want to deal with my family anyway, I guess,” Kuzuryuu said gruffly.

“I like your family,” Hinata told him. “I mean, the ones I’ve met anyway.” Which was only his younger sister, really. And Pekoyama, if she counted. It was true that he couldn’t picture having their New Year’s party in yakuza territory, though.

If only they knew someone who had a big enough place, and no family or neighbors around to be bothered by the noise.

_… wait a minute._

“Well, we’ll figure something out.”

Hinata looked at Kuzuryuu, considered telling him about the idea he’d just had. But then he decided against it. He should probably ask the person in question first.

“Yeah…” he said vaguely.

After that, they lapsed into silence for a bit. Hinata took the opportunity to polish off the rest of his plate.

“So… university, huh?” Kuzuryuu asked, eventually striking up conversation again.

“Ah, yeah, that’s the plan,” Hinata replied. “Well, if I manage to get in, anyway,” he amended with a grimace.

“What are you gonna study?”

“Psychology,” he said. “I’m going to try to be a counselor.”

“Seriously? No way in hell I’d want that job,” Kuzuryuu said, shaking his head. “You couldn’t pay me to listen to people whine about their problems all day. Though…” A small smirk played on his lips. “I guess that kind of thing suits you pretty well.”

“Thanks,” Hinata said dryly. Somehow that didn’t sound like a compliment.

“I mean, you just listened to me bitch for the last hour… sorry about that.” Kuzuryuu smiled a self-deprecating smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hinata reassured him. “It’s fine, really.”

After that, the waitress came by to take their plates. Hinata enjoyed being on the other end of things for a change, though he had a newfound sympathy for people in these kinds of jobs, now that he knew how much work it really was. 

“Want to get dessert?” he asked Kuzuryuu.

“…yeah, alright,” Kuzuryuu said with a bit of a flush. “Don’t tell anyone, though.”

Hinata just laughed. “I won’t.”

* * *

The next day, after he got home from work and ate his dinner, Hinata took out his phone and made the call.

“Hello?” came the voice from the other end. Thankfully, Komaeda had picked up on the first ring.

“Hey,” Hinata said.

“Hinata-kun, hello.” Komaeda recognized his voice right away. He may have seen him on the caller ID. Somehow, though, Hinata figured Komaeda could have guessed who it was going to be without caller ID; he had the feeling Komaeda didn’t receive calls from very many people.

“What is it?” he asked. “Did you need any more help studying?”

“That… might not be a bad idea,” Hinata admitted. “But that’s not the reason I called.”

“Oh? Then what is it?”

Hinata took a deep breath. “You know how you said that you’d go to anything I invited you to?”  

“Ah… yeah,” Komaeda said slowly.

“Well, I have an invitation,” he announced. “Along with a favor to I need to ask you... I want to have a New Year’s party for everyone.”

“For everyone?”

“Everyone from your class,” he clarified. Though honestly, he suspected that he’d been a bigger part of the class than Komaeda had, even though they hadn’t been  _his_ classmates. “Before graduation, Nanami and I talked about having a party. I talked about it with Kuzuryuu and Souda, too. I guess it’d double as a birthday party for me, since my birthday’s on New Year’s Eve, but I don’t need people to bring me presents or anything. Plus, it’s kind of embarrassing to plan your own birthday party, so… I figured we’d just call it a New Year’s party.”

“You’d really invite me to something like that?” Komaeda asked. He sounded surprised. Even honored.

“I was wondering if we could have it at your house, actually.”

“…Eh?”

“My place is way too small,” Hinata explained to him. “There’s no way I could fit all those people in there. And I don’t think anyone else’s place would work, either. But you live in that big house by yourself, right? So... you’d be perfect.”

–crap, he’d meant to say _your place_ would be perfect. Suddenly, he was glad they were doing this over the phone, so Komaeda couldn’t see his ears turn red.

For a long moment, there was silence on the other end. Then Komaeda asked, in a hesitant tone of voice, “Are you sure the others would want to come?”

“Yeah,” Hinata said easily, a little taken aback by the question. “I mean, I haven’t checked with everyone, so I don’t know for sure if people can come. But I think it’d be really fun if we could all see each other again.”

“Would they still want to go if I was the one hosting it, though?” Komaeda asked him. “They probably would rather I didn’t come at all. Nobody from class really liked me. My presence just makes things awkward and unpleasant.”

“That’s not true,” Hinata immediately denied. “And besides,” he reminded him, deliberately laying on the guilt, “you _said_ you’d go if I invited you.”

“But to hold it at my house… there’s no way that’s a good idea. We don’t even know what could happen.”

So, he was going to argue.

Although Hinata had hoped he’d agree right away, truthfully, he’d been prepared for this. He knew Komaeda and his anxieties about his luck well enough to anticipate these kinds of objections, and he’d already practiced counterarguments in his head earlier. Immediately, Hinata went to rebut him.

“You’ve lived in that house since you were a kid, right?” he pointed out, trying to find the holes in Komaeda’s excuses. “You told me that you inherited everything when your parents died. But nothing’s ever happened to your house before… isn’t that right?”

“Well…no,” Komaeda admitted. “I did set the kitchen on fire a few times while trying to cook, but it didn’t spread.”

Hinata _almost_ asked, but then decided he didn’t want to know. And anyway, that would be getting sidetracked. Instead he pressed on, “So, you’ve lived there for that many years and nothing bad has happened. If that’s the case, then, why would that change now? You’ve been in other accidents, but nothing ever happens to your house. Doesn’t that mean your house is safe?”

“ _Nothing_ is safe,” came Komaeda’s swift reply. “We don’t know that nothing will happen. As long as I still have this luck, all sorts of terrible things could occur. It wouldn’t be right for any of you to get hurt because of someone like me.”

“ _Nobody knows_ for sure that something bad won’t happen,” Hinata argued, frustration starting to seep into his voice. “Even if we had the party at my place, or at Nanami’s place, or in Sonia’s castle or _wherever_ , something could go wrong. Accidents can happen anywhere. Nobody can guarantee they’ll be safe when they go out and do _anything_. That’s why you can’t just go through life doing nothing, just because you’re afraid of what will happen,” he said emphatically. “We _have_ to keep moving towards the future instead.”

When he finished, he took a deep breath, tried to calm himself down. Komaeda wasn’t responding. Hinata started to wonder if he’d said too much, gotten too preachy, too far ahead of himself. But he wanted Komaeda to understand. No, he _needed_ him to.

“I’ll do my best to make sure nothing goes wrong,” he promised, his voice calmer and quieter now. “But if something does happen, then… I’ll take responsibility. It’ll be my fault, since the whole thing was my idea in the first place. Okay?”

“…You’re really that desperate, huh?” Komaeda said eventually. “To ask me of all people, there must really be no other choice.”

“Well, there kind of isn’t, yeah,” Hinata admitted. “But you’re not a last resort or anything. Having it at your house seemed like the most logical solution. And besides,” he added, “I think it would be a good thing for you.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” He sounded so baffled. Hinata could easily picture what his face must look like.

“You never felt like you fit in with your class, right? You said you felt like there was a distance between you and everyone else. So… couldn’t this be a good opportunity to bridge that gap a little bit?” he asked. Komaeda said nothing. “I think if everyone got to know you better,” he continued, “then they’d want to be friends with you too.” 

“…You really think anyone besides you would want to be friends with me?”

It was such a pathetic question, it almost sounded like a joke. Or a jab at Hinata’s taste. But Hinata could tell he seriously wanted to know, so he tried to answer seriously.

“Yeah,” he said. “I mean, you say some strange things sometimes, and you’re a little hard to understand, but…have you _met_ most of your classmates?” He thought he heard Komaeda laugh a little in surprise, breathy against the receiver. “And besides,” Hinata continued, deciding to go the extra mile, “you’re really kind, you’re smart, and you have a positive attitude… or, well, most of the time you do.” _When you’re not worrying about whether your talent will kill us all, anyway._ “I think anyone would want to be friends with someone like that.”

There was more silence, until finally, he heard the other boy mumble something.

“…not fair.”

“Huh?” Hinata asked. “What was that?”

“It’s not fair,” Komaeda repeated. “You’re the one who’s kind. Hearing you talk like that… you’re going to make me like you even more, you know?”

Hinata’s heart lurched in his chest.

“What?” he breathed, barely able to speak at all. Or think. Or do anything.

If he was expecting anything to come from that – for Komaeda to reveal that he was joking, or that he was serious, or for him to come right out and confess his feelings – then he was disappointed. Komaeda acted like he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary at all, when he next spoke.

“If you really think it’ll be okay, then, I’ll fulfill your request,” he said. “You can have the party at my house.”

“Oh.” Hinata was glad he clarified, because he’d managed to just completely forget everything they’d been talking about. “Uh. That’s great!”

“I still have my doubts about whether or not everyone will want to go to an event that I invited them to. So, you’ll need to invite them.”

Hinata nodded, then realized Komaeda couldn’t see him. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “I mean… actually, I figured Nanami could invite them. I’ve already talked to Kuzuryuu and Souda about this, but I think I’ll let the others believe someone else planned it, in case they remember it’s my birthday. I don’t want to look like I planned it as a birthday party for me.”

“I see. That makes sense,” Komaeda said cheerfully. “If there are any preparations you want me to make in advance, please let me know. I’ll make sure the house is clean, anyway.”

“Great…thanks.” Hinata felt dazed, both by Komaeda’s sudden change of heart about hosting the party, and about what he’d said a minute ago.

Yeah, that thing he’d said a minute ago. About… liking him.

“I’ll talk to you some other time, then?”

“Yeah.” Hinata swallowed, struggling to sound completely normal. “Talk to you later.”

Komaeda clicked off. Hinata just stood there for a minute, listening to the sound of the receiver as he stared into space, a cocktail of confused thoughts clouding his head.

* * *

Kuzuryuu’s reaction was about what he expected.

“Tch,” he grunted over the phone. “Why’re you having it at that guy’s house?”

“His place is really big, and he should have it to himself on New Year’s Eve,” Hinata said, neglecting to mention that Komaeda _always_ had the place to himself, because he didn’t know how much personal info Komaeda had shared with his classmates. If he had to guess, probably not much. “That’s why I asked him. Also,” he added, “he’s my friend, so it’s fine.”

He tried to make it clear that there was no room for argument. And apparently it worked, because Kuzuryuu conceded easily enough.

“…fine, whatever you want. It’s your party. You uh, want Peko there too, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Hinata said quickly.

“Alright. Guess I’ll tell her, then…” And shortly after that, they hung up.

Next he told Souda, who also took it about as well as he expected.

“ _Komaeda’s_ place?” Souda repeated. “Man… I hope his house isn’t as weird as he is. But more importantly, Sonia-san’s invited too, right?” When Hinata confirmed, he started freaking out on the other line. “Aww man, I can’t believe I get to see Sonia-san again! And on New Year’s Eve, too! With a few drinks, and a little of _that guy’s_ luck, who knows what could happen between us at midnight?! You know they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, right? Well, Sonia-san and I haven’t seen each other in a long time! So, the next time she sees me, she could end up running straight into my arms!! Aww man, I can’t wait!”

Hinata spent the next ten minutes listening to Souda’s delusions. But he didn’t mind. He was just glad Souda hadn’t made a big deal out of the party being at Komaeda’s house.

By that point, Hinata was starting to get excited about the whole thing. The date of the entrance exams loomed ever closer, casting a dark shadow over his life, but at least he had one thing to look forward to.

The only person left to talk to was Nanami. He decided to talk to her in person instead of over the phone, figuring he could treat her at work. Plus he felt kind of bad, because they hadn’t had much time to hang out recently. He was always busy with work and studying.

When he arrived at the diner early the next morning, he saw that Nanami was already seated in one of the booths, slumped over the table with her head down. It appeared that she’d fallen asleep in public again.

“Hey, Nanami,” he said, leaning down and gently shaking her by the shoulders.

Nanami raised her head and slowly blinked her eyes open.

“Hinata-kun,” she mumbled, reaching up to wipe some of the drool off her chin. “Thanks for waking me up.”

“No problem.” He went to sit across from her. “Thanks for coming out here before my shift starts… Sorry I made you get up so early.”

“It’s okay. What did you want to talk about?”

“Remember back when we talked about having a New Year’s party?”

“Ah… yes!” It seemed to take her a second to remember, but once she did, her whole face lit up with excitement. “That’s coming up soon.”

“I talked to Komaeda the other day,” Hinata told her. “He said we could have it at his place.”

“Komaeda-kun… I see.” Nanami looked a little surprised, but she didn’t make any further comment. “Did you want me to invite everyone?”

Hinata nodded. “Yeah. Well, everyone besides me, Komaeda, Kuzuryuu and Souda. And Pekoyama too, since Kuzuryuu’s inviting her.”

“Okay, leave it to me,” Nanami said easily. “I still have everyone’s contact info from when I was class rep.”

“Great, thanks.” Hinata sent her a warm smile.

“What about before New Year’s?” she asked next.

Hinata frowned, unsure what she was asking. “Before New Year’s?”

“Mm. Do you have any plans for Christmas?”

“Ah…” Hinata froze. Suddenly, he felt nervous. “I don’t know yet – uh, I mean, I don’t know whether I’ll have to work on Christmas,” he clarified, since saying he didn’t know yet sort of implied he _might_ have plans. Like he didn’t know if someone would ask him out or not.

“I see,” Nanami said, her expression impossible to read as always.

Hinata sat rigid in his seat, his heart beating fast. He wasn’t sure how to proceed from here. A minute ago, it had sounded like Nanami was about to… ask him out, or something. But she wasn’t doing that now. So, either his response had turned her off, because he sounded like he wasn’t sure he was free, or… she was waiting for _him_ to ask _her_ out.

Though, there was _still_ a chance that she hadn’t meant anything by it, other than friendly curiosity. He could have the wrong idea… however unlikely that seemed at this point.

It was hard. He didn’t know what to say next, or even what outcome he was hoping for.

He liked Nanami. He’d like to spend Christmas with her. But.

“Do… you have any Christmas plans?” he asked, his voice carefully neutral.

“Not really,” Nanami replied. “Fujisaki-kun and I might work on the game some more, I think. I could ask some of the girls if they want to spend time together, but a lot of them are probably busy with dates.”

“Dates?” he repeated, flushing a little. “You mean the girls in your class?”

“Mm. I heard that Nidai-kun and Owari-san are a couple, as well as Koizumi-san and Saionji-san,” Nanami said matter-of-factly.

“S-Seriously?” Hinata asked, eyes wide.

“Yes. I guess that explains why Koizumi-san and Saionji-san are living together… though, I don’t know if they were already dating before they moved in together or not. And Nidai-kun and Owari-san are always by each other’s side, so that’s not too surprising either, I think,” she mused.

He… really hadn’t known about any of that.

He hadn’t known any of his friends were dating _anyone_ , let alone each other. And if he’d had to guess who among his friend group would start dating first, his first guesses wouldn’t have been people like Owari and Saionji.

It made him wonder what else had changed, in the many months since graduation. The tightness in his chest increased, along with the pressure he felt on his heart.

It was like he was being reminded, _Things can’t stay like this forever._

“I…guess you’re right,” Hinata said eventually, hoping his voice didn’t betray his conflicted feelings. “Owari and Nidai came here together a few times. They helped me move, too. But... I didn’t know they were dating now.”

“I was more surprised by Koizumi-san and Saionji-san. I’d never seen two girls who were a couple, outside of RPGs and yuri games,” Nanami said. “But, I guess it makes sense that if they exist in games, then there are girl-girl and boy-boy couples in real life too.”

For some reason, hearing Nanami mention two guys being together put him even more on edge.

“Um, do you want anything to eat or drink?” he asked. More than anything, he really wanted to change the subject.

“Mm, something sweet would be good, I think.  And maybe some juice.”

Hinata almost sighed with relief that she went along with it. “I can go get you something,” he offered. “You won’t have to pay or anything.”

“Is that really okay?” Nanami asked, tilting her head curiously.

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m sure it is.”

And with that, he set off for the kitchen, trying not to think about anything other than what he should bring Nanami for breakfast.

* * *

When Christmas rolls around, he volunteers for the evening shift at work.

He lies to his friends about it, tells them he just couldn’t get out of work because so many other employees were taking the day off. His friends believe him without question. They sympathize with his bad luck and send him encouraging messages to cheer up, since it’s almost his birthday.

It’s not like he wanted to spend Christmas serving pie and sandwiches. But the truth is, he just couldn’t deal with a romantic holiday.

Christmas just reminded him of the decision he couldn’t make.

Hinata could almost see it in his mind: two branching paths laid out in front of him, leading to two different futures. One of them was the path where he finally asks out Nanami, the way all his friends expect him to, the way _she_ seemed to expect herself. And the other path was the one where he doesn’t ask her out.

Sometimes he wondered if she’d be the one to confess first. He got that vibe when they were hanging out together sometimes, like she was about to do it, and his heart would race as he waited and wondered. But she never did.

He almost wished she’d just do it, even though it’s supposed to be the guy who takes the initiative. Then the decision would be made for him. Then he could just say yes.

Or he could turn her down. But… how would he do that? What would he even say?

 _I’m sorry, I can’t return your feelings_ would be a lie.

 _I’m sorry, I can’t return your feelings. There’s already someone else I like._ That would be half a lie, half true.

If a guy who couldn’t choose between two girls is an asshole, he didn’t know what you called a guy who couldn’t choose between a girl and another guy. A sexually confused asshole, probably.

As he watched the falling snow outside, Hinata exhaled a sigh.

He knew he should just focus on his job, his studies, and the New Year’s party. It was pointless to spend time worrying about something like this. But he couldn’t help it.

It was just depressing, to know that things wouldn’t be able to continue like this. That sooner or later, he’d have to give up on one of them: either that casual intimacy with Nanami, or that feeling of closeness with Komaeda. One would have to go. He wouldn’t be able to stay that close with both of them. He knew that.

But the thought of either of them drifting away from him – the thought of either of them smiling at him from a distance when they see each other once or twice a year – was so unbearably painful he couldn’t stand to think about it. He’d rather not date anyone, ever, than have to deal with that.  

He just couldn’t see it: a future where he was okay with not having both of them in his life.

It was selfish and greedy, he knew that. But when it came to them, apparently he didn’t know how to be anything else.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnd here's the final chapter. Sorry that this is insanely long. But hopefully it's a satisfying conclusion regardless.
> 
> Disclaimer: I have never played Mario Kart in my life. Watching Youtube videos didn't help because I understood nothing that was going on. Hope I didn't bungle the description too badly.
> 
> A note about the last scene -- the "cherry blossoms" thing is a reference to this character song of Komaeda's: http://danganronpa.wikia.com/wiki/Zansakura_-zanka- I highly recommend listening to it. Ogata is the greatest.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who commented and left kudos on the first two parts. Hope you enjoy.

On the day of the party, Hinata arrived at Komaeda’s house at 3 PM with Souda and Kuzuryuu in tow. The party wasn’t until 5:00, but he figured it wasn’t fair to make Komaeda do all the set-up and provide all the food himself. So he and Souda pitched in and bought a lot of snacks, while Kuzuryuu brought some fancy beverages from home in a couple of brown paper bags.

“Hinata… are you sure this is the place?” Kuzuryuu asked, staring up at the house in disbelief.

Hinata could understand how he felt. Komaeda’s place looked more like a mansion than a house with only one resident. But he knew he had the address right. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“This place is huge!” Souda stood there in plain shock, his eyes wide and his jaw unhinged. “It’s like, _massive!_ I didn’t know Komaeda was rich!”

“I don’t think he likes to brag about it,” Hinata said evasively. He knew Komaeda’s good fortune was outweighed by the amount of suffering he’d experienced. But even so, Hinata couldn’t help but feel highly envious. His own circumstances were looking more miserable by the minute.

Even the doorbell to Komaeda’s house looked fancy, Hinata noted as he gave it a ring. Within a few seconds, the door swung open.

“Hello!” Komaeda greeted them cheerfully. “Happy New Year’s. Please, come on in and make yourself at home.”

That greeting sounded practiced to Hinata. He wondered if Komaeda was excited. Based on what he’d told Hinata about his life before coming to Hope’s Peak, this might very well be the first time he’d ever invited friends into his home.

The three of them made their way into a truly impressive living room. Hinata’s eyes bugged out as he observed just how exquisitely furnished and decorated the room was. Several gold-framed works of art immediately drew the eye. Tall bookshelves lined the walls, with handsome items such as globes and statues displayed on top of them. A large crystal chandelier hung from center of the room’s tall ceiling, and beautiful rugs covered the floor. But perhaps most impressive of all was just how clean the room looked; every surface seemed to shine. Komaeda must have went above and beyond while tidying up.

He certainly looked as though he’d just been cleaning: he was wearing gloves and an apron, and he had his hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Hinata hadn’t seen him like that before. It was a nice look on him; with his messy bangs pulled back, you could see his eyes better.

But that really wasn’t the kind of thing he needed to think about at the moment.

“The kitchen is through the living room to the left, if you’d like to set those things down,” Komaeda directed them, gesturing with his gloved hand.

“A-Ah, thanks.” Surprisingly, Souda was the first one to overcome his shock enough to reply. “Seriously nice place you’ve got here… just how rich _is_ your family?”

“They were pretty well-off. And so were their parents, and their parents’ parents, and so on,” Komaeda explained as they all headed into the kitchen.

The kitchen was glamorous, too, of course, but Hinata was prepared for that by this point. It looked even more neat and tidy than the living room did, almost to the point of seeing unnatural. Clearly Komaeda had done a great job of cleaning, but Hinata also had feeling the kitchen didn’t see much use, based on what Komaeda had told him about his cooking skills. When you’re swimming in cash, there wasn’t any problem with eating out all the time, Hinata figured with no small amount of envy.

“Ooh, is that real champagne?” Souda asked eagerly, peering into the bags Kuzuryuu had set down on the table.

“Hell no,” Kuzuryuu said. “None of us are past the drinking age.”

“Seriously, you care about _that_?” Souda looked extremely put-out. “You’re yakuza! And we’re only one year off, anyway.”

“Tch. Why do you care about alcohol so much?”

“Cause alcohol opens up waayyy more possibilities!” Souda said like it was obvious. “People act really different when they’re drunk! Some of them get all weepy, some of them get all clingy… It like, lowers your inhibitions and stuff! So when you put _girls_ and _guys_ together, and give them alcohol, you could see a little of _this_ , and a little of _that_.”

“No thanks,” Kuzuryuu grumbled. “Our class already put up with enough of that crap from Hanamura.”

“But this is my first time seeing Sonia-san in almost a year,” Souda complained. “This is like, a now-or-never moment! I just wanna make the most of it.”

“Heh… so you admit it.” Kuzuryuu’s lips curved up in a smirk.

“Admit what?” Souda asked.

“Admit that Sonia would have to be drunk off her ass to want anything to do with you.”

“ _That’s not what I said at all!_ ” Souda yelled, lunging at him. “Augh! Take that back, you—!”

“Guys,” Hinata cut in, stepping between them, “are we _really_ doing this right now?”

Thankfully, that made them come to their senses.  Awkwardly, they shuffled a few steps away from each other. Pre-party fist fight in Komaeda’s kitchen: averted.

“Maybe you guys could put the drinks in the fridge,” he suggested to Souda and Kuzuryuu. Then he turned to Komaeda and asked, “Is there any cleaning I can help you with?”

“I’ve already taken care of most of It,” Komaeda said. “Though, I haven’t vacuumed the downstairs yet. I was just about to do that…”

“I can do it,” Hinata volunteered. “It’s only a few rooms, right?”

“You don’t have to,” Komaeda told him, but Hinata shook his head. He didn’t want to make Komaeda do all the work, and he figured helping with the set-up was a better use of their time than standing around and getting into dumb arguments.

Komaeda told him where the vacuum cleaner was kept, and Hinata proceeded with his chore. Vacuuming the downstairs gave him the opportunity to look around some more. He took note of an interesting painting over here, the grandfather clock over there, and so on.

More than the décor, though, what interested Hinata was the photographs.

Komaeda’s house had plenty of framed family photographs, most of them on top of the mantlepiece over the fireplace. Some of them were old, showing people Hinata assumed to be great-grandparents or relatives even farther back, while others were clearly recent. Like the ones that showed Komaeda himself: much smaller and younger, but still with the same messy hair. He looked healthier back then, Hinata noticed; he wasn’t as pale or as frail-looking.

Alongside Komaeda, the more recent photographs showed a tall, lean man and a frail-looking woman with long, light-colored hair as unruly as Komaeda’s. Hinata could only assume those were his parents.

The photographs didn’t show the same progression that other families’ photographs did. The man, the woman and their son didn’t grow old together. After the boy reached adolescence, the photos simply stopped. There was nothing after a certain point.

Back on the day of graduation, there had been plenty of photographers in attendance. Even reserve course students had their pictures taken. But Komaeda’s graduation photos were nowhere to be seen.

It was hard not to find it all a little depressing. Both the photographs, and the large house with only a single occupant. But it also gave him a new reason to look forward to the evening ahead.

This house had probably never seen so many visitors before.

After completing his task, Hinata headed back towards kitchen – but the snippet of conversation he overheard made him freeze outside the entrance.

“So, what kind of girl do you like?” Souda was asking.

“...Excuse me?” Komaeda replied.

“You’re pretty weird – no offense – but even you must have some interest, right? What’s your type of girl? Do you like cute girls, sexy girls, girls with good bone structure…?”

Hinata almost did a spit-take. He couldn’t believe Souda was trying to talk about this with _Komaeda_ of all people. And just what was that last “type”, anyway?

And yet… against his will, Hinata found himself waiting to hear the answer.

“Ahaha,” Komaeda laughed awkwardly. “I’m not really sure how to answer that… sorry.”

“Come _on_.” Souda groaned. “There are like, no guys I can talk to about this stuff!”

“Surely there must be _someone_ ,” Komaeda reasonably pointed out.

“Not really,” Souda grumbled. “Hinata’s all evasive whenever I ask. And as for _this guy_ right here,” he jabbed a finger at Kuzuryuu, “he’s been practically married to the same girl since he was a kid, so he probably never thinks about it.”

“O-Oi!” Kuzuryuu started sputtering. “We’re not _married_ , cut that shit out!”

“Well, even though I don’t have a good answer, it makes me happy that you wanted to talk to me about something like this,” Komaeda said cheerfully. “In fact,” he said, throwing his hands up in the air, “it makes me really happy that you wanted to talk to me at all!”

“Right, well…” Souda sounded pretty awkward now. “I guess I just figured, if you’re Hinata’s friend, I should try to get to know you better and stuff…”

“Thank you, Souda-kun!” He really did sound excited. He was beaming, too. “I’m honored that you think I’m worthy of any association at all.”

“Uh, you’re welcome, I guess. You should probably stop saying weird stuff like that, though.”

“Right.” Komaeda stared down at his hand, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips. “I’ll try to work on that…”

Even though the conversation was awkward, Hinata had to admit… it was nice to see Souda attempting to bond with Komaeda. Hinata decided to think about that instead, rather than the mild relief he’d experienced when Komaeda didn’t name a girl he was interested in.

After an hour had passed, Hinata decided it was time to go; the others thought this was going to be a surprise party for him, which meant he couldn’t already be there when they arrived. Though walking out the door when he was just going to come right back _did_ make him feel silly.

“Are you guys going to stay here?” he asked Souda and Kuzuryuu.

Suddenly, they both looked awkward. They shifted around on their feet and looked at the ground.

“Uh… well… I guess there’s no point in leaving,” Souda muttered, sounding a little uneasy.

“Yeah…” Kuzuryuu agreed. “Guess so.”

“Aren’t you going to go get Pekoyama?” Souda asked him.

“She doesn’t need me to get her.” Kuzuryuu scowled, flushing slightly. “She can come over here herself.”

Hinata looked between the two of them, then at Komaeda, whose smile gave nothing away. He could tell Souda and Kuzuryuu weren’t entirely comfortable hanging out at Komaeda’s house without him there as a buffer. And he was certain Komaeda didn’t have much experience entertaining guests – or hanging out with friends at all, really. But they’d seemed like they were getting along reasonably well earlier, so…

Hinata nodded. “Okay. See you guys later, then.”

After he left, Hinata walked back into the city, then took a bus to Nanami’s apartment. The walk was pretty long; Komaeda’s family had chosen a quiet, remote location for their home. By the time he rang Nanami’s bell, it was almost 5 PM.

“It’s unlocked. You can come in,” came Nanami’s lethargic-sounding voice.

He was surprised by the sight that awaited him on the other side of the door. Based on how sleepy she’d sounded, Hinata had figured that she had just been napping or something. Instead she looked like she’d just finished getting ready.

Nanami was wearing a pastel-pink dress he’d never seen before, sleeveless but with leggings underneath. It had a ribbon around the waist, emphasizing her nice figure. She was wearing some pretty bracelets which slid down her arm when she raised it to rub her eyes. She looked like she was wearing make-up, too. The only item he recognized on her was her Gala Omega hairpin.

“Is it time to go?” she yawned.

It took him a minute to even register that she’d asked a question.

“U-Uh, yeah,” he said. “Sure.”

She put on a double-breasted jacket, then slipped into a pair of sparkly shoes. Hovering by the door, she seemed to realize she’d forgotten something.

“Ah, hold on.”

She retreated back into the living area. When she returned, she was carrying a big gift bag.

Hinata raised an eyebrow. “Is that for the party?”

“Mm. I couldn’t forget your birthday presents.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Hinata said, flushing. Though he couldn’t deny that he was happy. Didn’t I say it was more a New Year’s party than a birthday party?”

“But I wanted to.” Nanami smiled at him. “Just because it’s New Year’s doesn’t mean it’s not your birthday too... Besides, everyone else also got you presents, I think.”

“I don’t think _everyone_ did.” Souda and Kuzuryuu hadn’t looked like they were carrying presents. “But, well… thanks,” he said, smiling bashfully.

“You’re welcome.” She held open the door for him. “Shall we go?”

As they headed to the bus stop, Hinata worked up the nerve to pay her a compliment.

“You, um… you look really nice tonight,” he said. It came out a lot less smooth than he’d intended.

Luckily, Nanami’s happy smile assuaged all his worries. Seeing it made his heart flip out, as usual. “I’m glad you think so,” she said. “Mioda-san helped me pick it out.”

“Mioda-san, huh…?” That dress didn’t look anything like Mioda’s usual style, but maybe she was capable of picking out clothes for other people that she wouldn’t wear herself.

“Mm. I’d never been to the mall with a girl before, so that was fun. Though, sometimes it felt like she was dressing me up like a doll. She asked me if I wanted to try on swimsuits and stuff, too. Even though it’s winter.”

Hinata laughed a little awkwardly, and tried very _very_ hard not to conjure up any mental images from that. “Yeah, that sounds like Mioda.”

“I still had fun, though. I really can’t wait to see everyone again,” Nanami said, as they climbed aboard the bus. “It’s lucky that Sonia-san could fly in.”

Hinata handed the driver his ticket. “I still can’t believe she has a private jet.”

“Do you think we’ll get to ride in it someday?” Nanami asked eagerly.

“Anything’s possible, I guess…”

They continued chatting until they reached Komaeda’s house. When they got there, the lights were on, but the door was shut and there was no one outside. He assumed they were the last to arrive, just as planned.

“Don’t forget to look surprised,” Nanami reminded him as she reached out and rang the bell.

When the door opened for them, Hinata’s eyes and ears were immediately assaulted.

_“SURPRISE!”_

Several pairs of hands dragged him and Nanami physically into the house. Horns went off and confetti showered their heads.

“Happy birthday, Hajime-chaaaan!” Mioda exclaimed as she threw herself at him.

At the same time, Nidai slung his arm around Hinata’s shoulders with so much force it nearly toppled him over. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” he boomed.

“T-Thanks, guys,” he said weakly, half-laughing, embarrassed and exasperated but also pretty happy. At least it wasn’t just him; Sonia had immediately hugged Nanami once she was pulled into the room. And Mioda soon let go of him to go join her.

“Happy birthday, Hinata-san. It’s been such a long time since we last saw each other, but I’m glad we can celebrate New Year’s and your birthday together,” Sonia said, pressing her cheek against Nanami’s. “And Nanami-san looks so cute this evening!”

“I’m glad, too,” Hinata replied. Sonia looked about the same as he remembered her. That wasn’t true of everyone in the room, though.

“Yeah yeah, happy birthday,” Saionji said flippantly. “I still don’t see why you wanted to have it at the creepy guy’s house.”

“Ah… about that,” Komaeda said, speaking up for the first time. He’d lost the apron and the ponytail since Hinata last saw him. “I’ve been meaning to ask, but… who are you, exactly?”

“ _’Who are you’_?” Saionji repeated, incredulous. “It’s me, dumbass! Saionji Hiyoko!”

“Ah… I see.” Komaeda looked her over, surprised. “I couldn’t recognize you at all. I thought you might be one of Koizumi-san’s friends from college.”

Hinata had to fight the urge to laugh. Honestly, if he’d passed Saionji on the street, he might not have recognized her either. This was his first time seeing her since graduation, and in the nine months since then, she’d apparently grown a foot and a half.

“There’s something wrong with your eyes, just like there’s something wrong with your brain” she grumbled. “Besides,” she said, jabbing a finger at Koizumi, “I’m Mahiru’s _girlfriend_ now, for your information! Not just a friend!”

“Wow, you used her first name and everything~” Mioda teased.

“H-Hiyoko chan, you don’t need to shout about it,” Koizumi said. But there was clearly some happiness mingled with the embarrassment on her face.

So… what Nanami said before was true. Some of his friends really were dating each other now.

Hinata wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that. He didn’t have any reason to be unhappy about it. But it left a weird, vaguely uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, just like everything else that was romance-related these days.

“My mistake,” Komaeda laughed. “Congratulations. I’m sure that a pairing between two shining people like yourselves will bring hope to everyone around you!”

Predictably, that didn’t seem to placate Saionji. In fact, it made her start going off about what a creep Komaeda was. Koizumi didn’t seem very happy, either.

“Oi.” Souda nudged Komaeda with his elbow. “Remember what I said earlier, about not saying any more weird stuff?”

Thankfully, Nanami chose that moment to try to diffuse the tension.

“How about Hinata-kun opens his presents now?” she suggested, holding up her gift bag.

“Heh… an excellent idea.” Tanaka grinned. “The twelve Dark Devas of Destruction will help! Harbingers of darkness, you may reveal yourselves!”

“ _Twelve?!_ ” Souda repeated. “What do you mean, there are twelve?!”

Tanaka cackled. “The Gods of Fortune decided to bless San-D with eight evil heirs! Now the Dark Devas will wreak even more destruction than ever before!”

“Amazing!” Sonia headed straight over to him, peering to get a closer look at the small army of hamsters peeking their heads out of his coat. “They’re so small and cute! But I can tell they’re really powerful.”

“Y-Yes.” Tanaka tugged his scarf up, blushing. “I am in complete agreement.”

“This way to the presents, then,” Komaeda directed them. He and a scowling Souda led the way into the kitchen.

Hinata really hadn’t thought everyone would bring him gifts. He thought it’d just be Nanami, and maybe one or two other people. But it appeared that Nanami had been right: there was a _huge_ pile of presents on the kitchen table, to the point where there probably had to be one from everyone.

“Y-You guys…” Hinata muttered, staring wide-eyed. He wasn’t sure he’d received that many birthday presents in his _life_ , let alone all on one birthday.

“It may be New Year’s Eve, but it is still your birthday!” Nidai declared, his words echoing Nanami’s from earlier.

“You should open mine first!” Souda said, thrusting a package in his direction. Evidently, he’d already gotten over his Sonia-related disappointment.

Hinata hadn’t seen Souda or Kuzuryuu bring in any gift boxes when they went to set up for the party. But it now occurred to him that he hadn’t actually seen what was in the bags they brought along with them. Apparently, it hadn’t all been food and drinks.

Feeling awkward, but also honestly a little touched, Hinata nodded. “Alright… hand it here, then.”

There were so many presents to get through that the gift-opening took the better part of an hour. The process was sped up a little by Tanaka’s hamsters, though, who clawed and chewed their way through the ribbons.

With each new gift that was unwrapped, Hinata was once again taken aback by his friends’ thoughtfulness. Mioda got him a hard copy of her new LP and a new pair of headphones, and even though it was predictable, he really appreciated it anyway. The Imposter got him a big box of kusamochi, which made him really happy, even though he could tell he’d be expected to share. Kuzuryuu got him cufflinks and a new tie, both of which looked very high-quality. And Hanamura’s gift, wow – that was probably the nicest of all: a full paid week off work. (“Can you really do that?!” he asked, but Hanamura assured him he could… though he also said he wouldn’t mind if Hinata wanted to _pay back_ the favor. Noticing the perverted gleam in his eyes, Hinata decided he’d pass.)

Sure, Sonia’s gift was pretty weird (“It’s a tradition in my country to give this to a young man when he turns nineteen!” she explained, which didn’t actually explain anything), and Owari got his name wrong on the tag. But he still felt a new wave of affection wash over him with every gift that was presented to him. It was nice to be reminded that he had so many friends who cared about him.

“Here’s mine,” Nanami said, holding the gift bag out for him. “You can see what’s inside now.”

Hinata opened up the bag and dug through the tissue paper. He fished out several different games – all multiplayer, of course.

“Thanks a lot, Nanami,” he said, smiling at her. It was exactly what he’d expected to receive, but it was still nice. He wouldn’t have asked her for anything else.

“You’re welcome. Once you’re finished studying for exams, I hope we can have fun playing all of them together.”

“Hey, hey, can we play them now?” Mioda asked. “Do you have any game systems, Nagito-chan?”

“Ah… I do, but… I’m afraid I only have one controller,” Komaeda replied apologetically.

“Oh man,” Mioda said. “That’s like, super depressing!”

“Komaeda-kun,” Nanami cut in, “your present is the only one left, right?”

He nodded. “Yes. Feel free to open it whenever you like, Hinata-kun.”

Hinata stared down at the one remaining box on the table. It was small, and so neatly wrapped he honestly felt bad about opening it. But he had to admit he was curious about what kind of gift Komaeda would pick out for him.

After carefully removing the wrapping paper, Hinata opened up the box.

The item inside turned out to be a watch. The band was made of silver, and it gleamed underneath the lighting in the kitchen. But the most eye-catching thing about it was the likeness of Hope’s Peak Academy on the face, complete with the official emblem.

“Hinata-kun, you used to talk about how much you admired Hope’s Peak, right?”

It took him a minute to tear his eyes away from the watch long enough to look up at him. Mutely, he nodded.

“Mm. I still remember those times. I told you how much I’d always admired Hope’s Peak and everything it stood for, as well… but then, one day, you told me you’d changed your mind. That you wanted to go out into the world and make a future of your own, rather than simply admiring the greatness in others.”

Hinata didn’t say anything. He just stared, wondering where Komaeda was going with this. Komaeda didn’t sound like he was criticizing him, but Hinata knew Komaeda’s views on Hope’s Peak and talent were very different from his own.

“That’s why I wasn’t sure you’d want something like this,” Komaeda continued. “But, then I decided an item like this doesn’t have only one possible meaning. Even if you don’t admire Hope’s Peak the way you once did, it’s still an important place for you, right? It’s the place where you met Nanami-san, and Kuzuryuu-kun and Souda-kun, and all your other friends. So, I figured it’s still a place that’s dear to your heart… Though, maybe I got ahead of myself,” he finished, his final words taking on an uncertain tinge.

“No,” Hinata managed to say after a minute. “You’re… right about all that. That I’m still glad I went to Hope’s Peak. And I do like it a lot.”

He took another look at the watch, taking in all the details this time. It honestly was really nice. Probably expensive, too.

Lifting his head, he gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “Thanks, Komaeda.”

It was hard to tell with him, sometimes, but Hinata thought Komaeda’s returning smile looked more heartfelt than usual.

“You should be able to get a good workout, carrying all these gifts back home!” Nidai said, clapping him on the back.

“Haha… I guess so.” Hinata grimaced slightly. He hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. But it’d be churlish to complain after everything his friends did for him. Honestly… even though he’d planned it to be more of a New Year’s party, he was glad his friends cared enough to celebrate his birthday. No one ever really had before; his birthday had always been overshadowed by New Year’s.

“Thanks a lot, you guys,” he said, addressing the entire group.

“So now that you’ve opened your presents, is it time to eat?” Owari asked. “I’m starving.”

“Sure, we brought tons of snacks earlier,” Souda said. “Er, me and Kuzuryuu, I mean,” he added, since Hinata wasn’t supposed to have helped set up his own birthday party.

“But that’s not all we’re having,” Hanamura declared. “It wouldn’t be a proper New Year’s without toshikoshi soba! That’s why I brought all the ingredients,” he said, gesturing to a bag behind him. It looked like it was bursting with cooking utensils.

“Isn’t that going to take a long time to prepare?” Nanami asked.

“Not when I’m the chef. I’m a speedy cook!” he said confidently. “But don’t worry, I’ll make sure they’re still the highest quality noodles you’ll ever eat.”

“…you’re not going to put anything weird in it, are you?” Koizumi sent him an accusatory look.

“Put anything in it?” Hinata asked curiously.

“It’s something he’s done before,” Nanami informed him. For some reason, she was blushing. So were some of the others, actually… Hinata felt pretty lost.

“T-That wasn’t my plan at all,” Hanamura stammered. “I wasn’t gonna spike the stuff with some of my special sauce! Honest!!”

“…That denial was oddly specific,” Nanami pointed out. Hanamura wilted. “Maybe I should stand guard while he cooks.”

Hanamura tried to protest, but Komaeda spoke up in agreement. “That might be for the best,” he said. “Maybe I’ll watch, as well. It would be wonderful to see an Ultimate-level chef cook in my kitchen! I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.” He hugged his arms, shivering a little in excitement.

“I don’t need you guys to watch...” Hanamura seemed deflated, but he didn’t raise any more objections.

“While you guys are busy with the food, Ibuki’s gonna get this party started!” Mioda declared. “Nagito-chan, you got a stereo around here?”

“Mm, I brought it downstairs in case anyone wanted to use it. It should be over in the living room. It hasn’t seen much use recently, but it should still be working fine.”

“Sweet! Let’s go~!”

The others ended up filtering into the living room while Hanamura cooked and Nanami and Komaeda watched him. Mioda sifted through Komaeda’s music selection, quickly decided none of it was acceptable party music, and played some heavy metal CDs she’d brought with her instead. When the music first started it was so loud the vibrations seemed to shake the foundation of the house; with hands clutched over their ears, everyone begged her to turn it down. She grumbled about how the others weren’t hardcore enough, but she listened.

Komaeda’s couch was remarkably huge, and if they squeezed in, most of them could fit. Hinata ended up smooshed next to Sonia, who excitedly told stories about her home country while playing with Tanaka’s hamsters. Souda was on his other side, which wasn’t very comfortable, since he kept leaning over Hinata’s lap and spitting in his face trying to talk to Sonia over the music. But at least he didn’t start any fights with Tanaka, even though he visibly sulked every time she paid attention to him and his hamsters.

Eventually, Hinata started to tune her out while he watched the rest of the room. Mioda’s air guitar and Saionji’s elegant dance steps complemented each other surprisingly well. Nidai and Owari were sitting together on the other end of the couch – they weren’t touching each other or anything, but Hinata couldn’t help but be reminded of what Nanami said, that they were dating now. Imposter kept sneaking glances towards the kitchen. Koizumi watched Mioda and Saionji’s performance for a while, but eventually got up and wandered over to the mantlepiece, to take a look at all the photographs. She lingered there for a long time. Hinata wondered if she was going through any realizations about Komaeda’s family situation, and how that made her feel if she was.

As promised, it wasn’t too long before Hanamura finished up. Everyone quickly filed into the kitchen to be get their noodles. Even a kitchen as spacious as Komaeda’s wasn’t meant to accommodate sixteen people, though, so some people ended up back in the living room, careful not to spill on the carpet and furniture. Hinata did get a spot at the table, though, between Komaeda and Nanami.

“Incredible!” he heard Komaeda remark after his first mouthful of noodles. “I’ve found it: another fragment of hope…”

“Hey, since everyone’s here, why don’t we all go around and say our New Year’s resolutions?” Koizumi suggested, raising her voice so everyone in both rooms could hear.

“Great idea!” Nidai boomed. “Koizumi, you start!!”

“U-Uh, sure, I guess.” Koizumi flushed lightly at being put on the spot like that. “My New Year’s resolution is do a good job with my photo exhibition this summer. I want my mom to be impressed when she sees it. And... I want to make her proud.”

“Wooow, you sure are a momma’s girl, huh?” Mioda teased from the other room.

“I-It’s not like that,” Koizumi snapped. “It’s just, as a famous photographer, she’s my inspiration. It always felt like I was living in her shadow, but I hope that one day, I can reach the same level as her.”

“An excellent wish!” Nidai grinned. “We’ll all be coming to this event to support you, of course!”

“All of you?” Koizumi asked skeptically. “Is that really possible…?”

“It is indeed!” Sonia proclaimed. “Once the date is finalized, I shall make the proper travel arrangements. If it’s this summer, I should even have by pilot’s license by then.”

“P-Pilot’s license?!” Souda repeated. “That’s… that’s so cool!” He grinned. “I’ve worked on planes before, you know! We could totally fly the skies together!!”

“I’d love to see your exhibition,” Nanami said to Koizumi, ignoring Souda. “I’m sure all of us feel the same way.”

“…I see.” Koizumi looked down at her food, red-faced, but looking happy. “Thanks, everyone.”

“I’m the one who wants to see it the most, you know!” Saionji reminded her, sounding a little jealous. “I’ll be the first in line!”

Koizumi laughed a little in embarrassment. “I know that,” she reassured her.

“Hey, if you spend too much time flirting, your food’s gonna get cold!” Mioda called out.

“Oh, shut up!” Saionji yelled back.

“…so, is it Saionji-san’s turn next, then?” Nanami asked, getting everyone back on track.

“I don’t see why I need a resolution, but fine,” Saionji grouched. “If I have to make one, then mine is…”

Koizumi’s resolution turned out to be one of the more tame ones. The others made some truly impressive declarations. Hinata couldn’t help but feel a little lame in comparison, when he looked at his own modest goals.

_So this is the power of Ultimates, huh…_

When it got to be Komaeda’s turn, Hinata’s ears perked up. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what Komaeda’s New Year’s resolution might be. Everyone else’s seemed to be related to their talents and chosen career paths, but Komaeda didn’t have the same ambitions they did.

“Hmm.” He cupped a hand under his chin, looking thoughtful. “I’m not really sure what to say.”

“Why don’t you tell us something you’d like to improve at?” Nidai suggested.

“Well,” he said slowly, “I guess there’s that thing Souda-kun said to me earlier.”

“Me?” Souda’s eyes went wide.

“Yes.” Komaeda nodded. “You told me I should work on not saying ‘weird stuff’ any more, right?”

“Ah, yeah,” Souda said slowly.

“Perhaps that can be my New Year’s resolution!” Komaeda exclaimed, spreading his hands in the air. “…though, it might be a bit difficult for someone like me to accomplish.”

“Woah, I can’t believe someone’s actually taking my advice!” Souda sounded strangely enthusiastic. “I’m sure you can do it, man! You could become, like, at least a little more normal!”

And then, to Hinata’s shock and awe, he reached out and ruffled Komaeda’s hair.

Hinata honestly couldn’t believe what was happening in front of him. He’d never seen Komaeda bond with _anyone_ before. And if he’d been asked to come up with a list of potential friends for Komaeda, Souda would probably not have been on there.

But with his surprise came a sense of relief. This was what he’d been hoping would happen: that Komaeda would finally make friends with some of the people from his class. That he’d start to see them as friends rather than idols to be admired.

Komaeda didn’t seem to totally understand what was happening. His eyes went wide with shock. But he didn’t raise any objections as Souda messed with his hair. Hinata wondered if anyone had ever done that to him before. Judging by the look on his face, possibly not.

… though, as nice as that was to see, Hinata wasn’t sure what he thought of Komaeda’s New Year’s resolution. He’d been hoping to hear that he was considering going to college, or trying to find a job, or even trying to cook after he’d watched Hanamura. But maybe it was still too early for him to take steps like that.

His thoughts were interrupted when Nidai announced in his booming voice, “ALRIGHT, HINATA! YOU’RE UP!” and jabbed a finger at him. Hinata jumped in his seat.

“Time to hear Hajime-chan’s super special birthdaynewyear resolutions!!” Mioda called out.

Hinata grimaced as all the attention shifted to him. “I don’t know… My resolution is just to get into college, I guess.”

“Good luck, man! I know you can do it!” Souda winked at him. “I’m sure that one day, we’ll all be sitting on the therapist’s couch with you as the therapist!”

“That had better _not_ happen!” Hinata said vehemently. The thought was nightmare-inducing. At least he knew there were rules against working with people you know. Otherwise, that situation seemed terrifyingly plausible.

Next, it was Nanami’s turn. Everyone quieted down automatically, waiting respectfully to hear what their former class rep had to say. Hinata had to admire the way she could calm the room down without even doing anything.

“My resolution is to become a game dev, instead of just a player,” Nanami said. “Normally development would take a much longer time, but with everyone’s abilities, we could finish our game in a year, I think. Also…” she paused, looking around the room. “My other resolution is to spend more time with everyone, just like this.”

“Is that really a resolution?” Owari asked through a mouthful of noodles.

She nodded. “I think so. Since we’ve all graduated, I know it’ll be hard to see each other like this very often, but… I want to make it happen. I want us to stay friends, because, I really love this class.”

Nanami faced addressed everyone with a warm smile. The others started to smile back at her, getting caught up in her sentimentality.

“It’d be nice if things could stay like this forever,” she said. “…though, that may not be realistic.”

Something about those words made Hinata freeze up.

There wasn’t anything strange about her expression, or her tone of voice. She was just voicing how much she enjoyed seeing everyone; how she wished they wouldn’t grow apart from each other. On the surface, what she said sounded normal. But Hinata couldn’t help but feel weird about it.

It made him remember what he’d been thinking about lately. How conflicted he felt when he thought about Nanami, about Komaeda, about the future. About how he couldn’t choose. About how he wished he could just stay this close to both of them forever.

_…though, that may not be realistic._

Yeah. She was right. Of course it wasn’t realistic.

Whether he wanted it to or not, everything would have to change.

None of the others read as much into her words as he did. They just made some comments about how of course they’d stay friends forever. Sonia reached across the table to pet Nanami on the head. And then they moved onto the next person, and the resolutions continued.

The mood was upbeat, but Hinata couldn’t shake the anxious, gloomy feeling that had arisen. It settled in his chest as he listened to everyone else talk.

After they finished eating, everyone loaded their bowls into the dishwasher, leaving Komaeda to scrub clean what couldn’t fit in there. Next, they all got into Hinata’s kusamochi; just as he thought, the Imposter did expect him to share. Hinata set the open box on the sitting room coffee table, and everyone grabbed for the mochi while they settled on the couch. He took one for himself and sat down between Souda and Nanami.

Mioda suggested they watch a movie, so they turned the TV on. Several people tried to fight her for the remote, but no one managed to get it out of her hands.

At one point, Tsumiki spoke up unexpectedly.

“—oh, that movie is really good!” she blurted.

Mioda jabbed her finger at the listing. “ _This_ one?”

Hesitantly, Tsumiki nodded. “Y-Yes. It’s one of my favorites.”

“Wooow, Ibuki would _not_ have expected that from you!” Mioda grinned. “What an electrifying pick! Guess we’ll have to go with that, then!”

“Tch.” Saionji clicked her tongue. “I hope her favorite movie isn’t as weird as she is.”

Weirdness, Hinata supposed, was in the eye of the beholder. But he felt like it should have gone without saying that a movie which featured so many graphic scenes of torture, mutilation and body horror was not going to be a crowd-pleaser. By the time one of the characters had needles jabbed in his eyes, Hinata had mentally checked himself out.

“AUUUUGH!” Souda screamed next to him. “What the fuck, what the _fuck?!_ ”

“AHHHH!” Mioda joined him in screaming. Though she didn’t look very afraid. In fact, it seemed like she was panicking for the fun of it.

“Waaah, make it stop!!” Saionji cried, burying her face in Koizumi’s shoulder. Koizumi looked on the verge of being ill herself.

Some of the others, on the other hand, were much more unflappable.

“This is all just special effects crap,” Kuzuryuu said flippantly. “I’ve seen a guy get his eye taken out, and it looks nothing like that.”

And as for Tsumiki, well…

“Ehehehe,” she giggled. “There’s so much blood… He really needs a nurse… If only I was there…”

“…maybe we should change the channel,” Nanami suggested.

The next movie they flipped to was, thankfully, much less graphic. There wasn’t any violence at all, in fact; the primary form of action seemed to be passionate gazing. They’d ended up with a romance, this time.

Maybe it was just because he wasn’t in the mood to think about romance lately, but Hinata found himself tuning out pretty fast. He quickly lost track of who in the movie was secretly pining for whom. By the time the obligatory “dramatic confrontation in the rain” scene went down, Hinata had already forgotten the two lovers’ names.

“I don’t understand why love stories are all like that,” Owari said.

“Like what?” Koizumi asked.

“Like _that_.” She gestured to the anguished couple onscreen. “I’m in love now, and it’s nothing like that.”

“What is it like?” Surprisingly, it was Pekoyama who asked.

“It’s basically just like wrestling.”

“Like _wrestling_?” Koizumi repeated, sounding skeptical.

“I don’t follow,” Pekoyama said.

“Well, there are different kinds of wrestling,” Owari explained. “There’s the physical kind, where you wrestle together for training. There’s wrestling with words, when you talk to each other. And then there’s the other physical kind, where you’re making out and stuff. So, it's all wrestling,” she concluded.

“Heh.” Nidai grinned proudly, his cheeks red. “Very well-put.”

“Ohhh, you’re talking about tongue-wrestling, huh?!” Hanamura asked excitedly. Listening to Owari speak had apparently given him a nosebleed. “Would you two care to demonstrate some ‘wrestling’ for us?”

Owari immediately turned him down. “No way, we can’t do that.”

Hanamura deflated. “Why not?”

“I don’t wanna pay a fine for breaking all this rich person stuff,” she said, gesturing to the room around them. “Whenever we do _that_ kinda wrestling, we end up breaking things, like the headboard and stuff.”

Next to Hinata, Souda appeared to be choking on his own spit. Koizumi and Pekoyama were blushing now. Hinata would be embarrassed right with them, but he was too busy being amazed that they were physically capable of doing something like that in the first place. _Ultimate-level athletes really are something else…_

“Aghhh, shut up!” Saionji clapped her hands over her ears. “Stop talking about your gross sex life!”

“No, no, by all means.” Hanamura grinned. “Keep going!”

Everyone laughed, sputtered and argued for a few more minutes before eventually quieting down. Mioda flipped the channel again, this time to a New Year’s music show.

As he watched a bunch of idols dance around onscreen, Hinata found himself coming back to Owari’s words again and again. The way she’d been able to say she was in love, like it was the simplest thing in the world… It worsened the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t help but be jealous of her.

During the third performance, Hinata felt a thud against his shoulder.

“Nanami…?”

It didn’t take much time to deduce that she’d fallen asleep. Her eyes were closed, and she was snoring faintly.

“I see Nanami-san is as sleepy as ever,” Sonia remarked fondly. “I hadn’t seen her sleeping face in a while.”

“It’d be totally hilarious if we drew on her face!” Mioda jumped out of her seat. “Anyone got any markers?”

“We’re _not_ doing that,” Hinata said firmly. “I’ll go take her upstairs.”

He tried to act completely casual as he carefully maneuvered Nanami into his arms. But the truth was, his heart was beating faster. She’d fallen asleep on him many times before, but he’d never princess-carried her like this. It felt intimate, even though she wasn’t awake for it.

“Where’s the guest room?” he asked Komaeda.

“Ah, if you go upstairs, the first room to the right is a guest room,” Komaeda said. “It should be perfectly clean. I made sure it was ready in case anyone got tired or sick.”

“Great,” Hinata said, tearing his eyes away from Nanami’s sleeping face. “Thanks…”

“Man, you sure are lucky,” he overheard Souda say as he headed over to the staircase. “Getting to carry a girl to bed…”

“Good luck, Hinata-kun!” Hanamura called after him. “Make sure to tell us all about it later!”

He wasn’t going to do anything. Nothing was going to happen. Why couldn’t they both just shut up? For some reason, he felt more defensive than usual.

Hinata flipped the light switch with his elbow, causing another ornate chandelier to light up, and carefully ascended the spiral staircase leading upstairs. When he got to the second floor, his eyes were greeted by more lavish artwork. There were several rooms in the hallway, and Hinata found himself kind of tempted to poke around and see what was inside. But he had to set Nanami down before he could do anything like that.

He wriggled with the doorknob on the first guest room as best he could, elbowed the light on again, and then moved to lay Nanami on the bed. The bed looked to be king-sized, with a red and gold bedspread and large number of pillows. At least she’d be comfortable.

After depositing her on the bed, Hinata sat next to her. For a moment, he gazed down at her sleeping form, taking in the way her chest heaved up and down, her peaceful expression. Her bangs had gotten messed up. He noticed her hairpin was on the verge of falling out.

As he watched her face, he noticed her eyebrows start to wrinkle. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open.

Blinking a few times, she fixed him with her groggy gaze.

“Hinata…kun…?”

Even though he’d been watching the whole time, he still jolted when he heard her voice, as though coming out of a trance.

“N-Nanami?” He felt like he’d been caught doing something bad.

Nanami drew her legs underneath her and sat up in the bed. “Where am I?” she asked, still in a dazed tone of voice.

“You fell asleep,” he said. “I just took you upstairs to the guest room.” Well, one of the guest rooms, judging from how big the house was.

“Is it midnight yet?” she asked, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. “Did I miss the new year?”

Hinata shook his head. “You didn’t miss anything. You were only out for a minute.”

“I see… that makes me happy, I think.”

Nanami reached up to brush her bangs, then seemed to realize that her hairpin had gotten messed up.

“Do you… need help fixing it?” he asked.

Nanami blinked at him for a moment. “My hairpin?” He nodded. “Mm, okay.”

Gently, carefully, Hinata reached out and tugged Nanami’s hairpin loose. It fell out in his palm. He was tempted to smooth over her bangs, which had gotten messed up, but… that felt like it would be too much.

Truthfully, though, this was already too much for him. Maybe he shouldn’t have volunteered.

He was conscious of every movement, every brush of her hair and skin against his hand, as he pinned the hairpin back. Heat rushed to his face as his hand brushed her cheek on the way back to her hair. And the entire time, she was looking at him with those wide, pale pink eyes…

“There,” he said, “D-Done.”

Nanami smiled at him. “Thanks.”  

He let his hand fall back down on the bed. Now that he’d done that, they were sitting closer together, shoulder-to-shoulder. Not quite touching, but with no real space between them at all.

“Are you enjoying the party, Hinata-kun?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Hinata said faintly. “Are you?”

“Mm-hmm. I’m really glad we got to see everyone again.”

Nanami moved her legs out from under her, so they dangled off the bed. “I think it’s more fun when everyone’s together. Though… I do have fun when it’s just the two of us, too,” she said.

He swallowed hard. “Nanami…”

“Hinata-kun?”

When he turned to face her, their fingers brushed on the bed. His eyes widened as he caught her gaze. She was looking at him expectantly. She didn’t pull her hand away.

 _This is it_ , he thought, his heart pounding wildly. This was the moment in all the movies, like the one they’d been watching downstairs. He knew what was supposed to come next.

His head felt dizzy. His thoughts were a tangled mess. He could hear Owari’s words and Saionji’s and Komaeda’s and Nanami’s all ringing in his ears, one after the other.

“ _I’m in love now, and it’s nothing like that_.”

“ _Mahiru’s my_ girlfriend _now, for your information!_ ”

“ _You’re going to make me like you even more, you know?”_

“ _Anything would be fun, if it’s with Hinata-kun._ ”

“Hinata-kun?” he heard her say again. Her fingers curled around his on the bed.

He stared into her eyes and wondered what he should do.

He could kiss her. He could tell her he liked her. He could reject her, though he wasn’t sure what he’d say, what justification he’d give. The one thing he couldn’t do was leave.

It felt like so much was riding on this moment that it paralyzed him.

“Nanami,” he said, but didn’t know what to actually _say_. “I—”

“Hinata-kun!”

Hinata froze, his eyes jerking towards the open door.

“Mioda-san wants to know if you—”

As he walked into the doorway, Komaeda’s voice died. His eyes went wide as he took Hinata in, took Hinata _and Nanami_ in: sitting on his guest bed, so close they were almost nestled together, their hands joined over the covers. Their faces were clearly surprised, like they’d been interrupted. They looked like two deer in headlights.

“—ah,” Nanami said.

For one very awkward moment, they all just stared at each other. But soon enough, Komaeda’s shocked expression melted right off, and he plastered his usual smile back on.

“Sorry,” he said, holding up his hands. “Don’t let me ruin the moment.”

And with that, he turned to head back down the stairs.

“Wait,” Nanami said, rising halfway off the bed, but it was too late. He’d already walked away.

Hinata just sat there. He felt bad now, and yet, it wasn’t as though they’d done anything bad. There wasn’t anything to apologize for, really. At most they’d given Komaeda the wrong idea– and Hinata wasn’t even sure it was so wrong in the first place.

To his surprise, though, Nanami wasn’t going to let this go. She got off the bed and ran right out of the room.

“Wait, Komaeda-kun—!” she called again, as she thumped after him down the stairs. Hinata heard them struggle, heard Komaeda protest, “ _Nanami-san, don’t_ ,” but apparently it didn’t work, because a few seconds later, Nanami was dragging a frazzled-looking Komaeda back into the guest room by his arm. She shut the door behind her.

“T-This really isn’t necessary,” Komaeda said, trying to smile awkwardly, but Hinata could see that it didn’t reach his eyes. 

“It is necessary. We really need to do this,” Nanami said firmly.

“If you were worried I was going to go tell the others, then rest assured, I won’t do any such thing,” Komaeda said, waving his hands in front of him. “I can even make up an excuse for you. So please, don’t let me ruin your time together. I should go.”

He moved for the door again, but Nanami was too quick for him, covering the knob with her hand.

“ _Don’t_ ,” she said.

Komaeda didn’t say anything, just stared at her. Clearly, he still wanted to leave. Hinata was inclined to just let him. He didn’t know what Nanami was trying to accomplish either, besides turning what should have been a mildly awkward incident into a mess.

“There’s been a misunderstanding, I think,” she said to Komaeda. “What moment did you think you were ruining?”

“You don’t have to play dumb like this,” Komaeda replied, still with that painfully forced smile on his face. “It’s what all of us expected, you know.”

“…I don’t follow,” she said.

“I’m talking about you and Hinata-kun getting together, of course.”

Nanami’s eyes widened slightly. “Me and Hinata-kun?”

“It’s only natural. For two hopeful people like yourselves, who are already such good friends, to finally take their relationship to the next level on New Year’s Eve… I’m sure most of us were expecting it. It makes perfect sense, and it’s a beautiful thing!” Komaeda declared, his voice rising as he laughed, though it sounded completely fake and unnatural. Hinata was pretty sure Komaeda forced himself to be happy on a regular basis, but never before had it been so blatantly obvious. It grated on his nerves.

“So, really, you don’t need to worry,” Komaeda went on. “Although I am sorry your romantic moment was intruded upon by someone like me. I really am trash."

“Stop that,” Hinata said.

Komaeda looked at him in surprise. “Hmm?”

“Just… stop calling yourself trash.” Hinata slumped over the bed, resting his head in his hands. He felt so tired.

“Komaeda-kun, you have some things wrong,” Nanami said.

“What’s wrong?” Komaeda frowned at her inquisitively. “I saw you two… you looked like you were about to kiss. Weren’t you?”

“Hmm.” Nanami hummed thoughtfully. “I don’t know.”

Hinata almost choked on his own spit.

“You don’t know?” Komaeda repeated, his voice politely incredulous.

“Hinata-kun,” Nanami rounded on him, “were we about to—”

“I don’t know either,” he said, feeling like the biggest asshole in the entire world. “I’m sorry.” Slowly, he raised his head, running a hand through his hair out of nerves. “Look,” he said, “maybe we should all just go back downstairs—”

“Aren’t you being cowardly right now?” Komaeda cut in. He sent Hinata a sharp look of disappointment. “That kind of wishy-washy response isn’t okay. Nanami-san deserves better than that.”

 _Crap._ Hinata had forgotten Komaeda was like that, sometimes – defensive over girls. Like the time he’d scolded him for “bullying” Tsumiki, even though she’d just started freaking out on her own.

“That’s not—” he said helplessly. “I-It’s not like that—” Except, actually, Komaeda was right.

“Can’t you see that your indecisiveness is hurting her feelings?” Komaeda scolded him, continuing to hit the nail on the head. “You should express your feelings to Nanami-san properly. Don’t back out now. I’ll go leave you two alone, so you can do that.” He tried to make another go at the door.

“I think Hinata-kun’s feelings are for you, though,” Nanami said.

Komaeda stopped dead in his tracks.

Hinata's blood turned cold. He jerked his head up, looking at Nanami in shock.

“W-What?” Komaeda asked, turning to Nanami in complete disbelief.

“Hinata-kun is always talking about you. He really seems to like you. Ah, I know he likes everyone in our class,” she amended, “but it felt to me like Komaeda-kun was the one he made the most effort with. Out of everyone, you’re the one he’s stayed in touch with the most, right? That’s why I thought, ‘ _Hinata-kun must like Komaeda-kun_ ,’” she explained.

“T-That’s impossible.” Komaeda shook his head at her, looking more agitated than Hinata had ever seen him. “Something like that is completely absurd.”

Nanami cocked her head. “Is it?”

“Of course it is!” Komaeda raised his voice. “Hinata-kun would never feel that way about me. Especially when there’s someone as impressive as you around… there’s definitely no way.”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘impressive.’ It is possible I have it wrong, but, I think Hinata-kun likes you the most. That’s why, even though I like Hinata-kun, I wasn’t going to say anything.”

Nanami turned and smiled at Hinata, then – a sad, heartbreaking smile.

Hinata jerked back like he’d been slapped. “Nanami…!”

“Well, there it is!” Komaeda said, his voice cracking as he laughed with more of that fake cheer. “We have a confession. How splendid! I’m sure you two will be a wonderful couple.”

“Where are you going?” Nanami asked. She _still_ wasn’t letting him leave the room.

Komaeda just frowned at her. “Nanami-san… I know I’m bad at getting along with others, but even I can read the mood sometimes.”

“You can’t go yet,” she insisted. “We still haven’t heard Hinata-kun’s feelings.”

“I don’t need to hear them! I already know!” Komaeda argued, almost shouting. “The person he likes is _you_! Hinata-kun,” he spun around and confronted him, “just tell her, okay? It’s rude to leave a girl waiting. Tell her that she’s the one you love, and that there’s no way you’d ever like someone as _stupid_ and _useless_ and _worthless_ and _disgusting_ as—”

“Don’t say things like that,” Hinata said tiredly. “Stop that, just… stop.”

Both Nanami and Komaeda went silent after that, but Hinata could feel their eyes on him. He just shook his head, wondering how he’d possibly managed to fuck up this badly.

It was all his fault. The signs had been there all along. Nanami – no, _both_ of them – had been sending him obvious signals for months, now, maybe even _years._ They’d tried so many times to tell him their feelings. Even if they hadn’t said the exact words, they’d made it obvious again and again. He’d known. He’d _always_ known.

But he’d just ignored it, all of it. All the meaningful looks, and heartfelt declarations, and almost-confessions. Because… why?

Because it was inconvenient for him. Because he couldn’t bear to make a decision. Because he was selfish.

“Hinata-kun.” Nanami’s soft, clear voice rang out. “Which is it? What are your true feelings?”

There was only one thing to do: tell them the truth.

It wasn’t an answer he wanted to give. He knew it wouldn’t make either of them happy. But there was nothing left for him to do besides be honest. Anything else would be disrespectful to them.

And besides… maybe once they realized how big a jerk he was, they wouldn’t like him anymore, anyway. Then the whole thing would resolve itself.

“You’re both wrong.” Slowly, he raised his head to look at them. “Or… you’re both right, I guess.” 

They looked confused. Komaeda opened his mouth, probably to ask what the hell he meant, so Hinata forced the words out.

“I like both of you,” he told them.

There – he’d finally said it.

Komaeda stared at him, uncomprehending. “What?” he asked.

“Both of us?” Nanami repeated.

“Yeah.” Hinata drew in a shaky breath. His nerves were acting up, but at the same time, he could already feel the relief seeping in, now that he’d finally said it.

“I thought about – confessing, or asking you out a few times,” he continued.  “But I didn’t do it, because I can’t – choose.” He observed the mingled shock and confusion on their faces and laughed a little in self-deprecation. “I know it’s weird… Sorry.”

Neither of them said anything for a moment, letting those words sink in. Eventually, Komaeda broke the silence.

“You’re kidding,” he said, staring at Hinata in disbelief. “This is a joke, right?”

“It’s not a joke.” Hinata let out a sharp bark of laughter as he asked, “Do you really think if I wanted to play a joke on you, I’d do it _this_ way?”

Komaeda didn’t seem to have a good comeback to that. He just stared at Hinata, searching his face like he was looking for signs that Hinata might be pulling his leg. But apparently, he couldn’t find any.

“You really… like someone like me,” Komaeda said slowly, awe dawning in his voice.

Hinata looked at him evenly. He gave him a short nod.

He didn’t think he’d ever forget it: the look in Komaeda’s eyes at that moment. As though something beyond his wildest dreams had just happened. Even if he’d just made a mess of things, at least there was this.

“…so, let me get this straight,” Nanami said, causing him to tear his eyes away from Komaeda. “Hinata-kun, you like both me and Komaeda-kun… right?”

“Y-Yeah,” he said, kind of taken aback. She didn’t sound angry or hurt or weirded out, the way he thought she would.

“And me and Komaeda-kun both like Hinata-kun… is that true?” She turned to Komaeda.

Hinata expected Komaeda to be too shy or evasive to give her a straight answer. But to his surprise, Komaeda came right out and readily admitted it.

“Of course,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’ve been in love with Hinata-kun for a while now.”

Hinata’s eyes bugged out.

“O-Oi, that’s…” he struggled for a response, flushing bright red. A part of him thought, _If that’s how you felt, why didn’t you say so earlier?_ But, if he gave it any thought, he could sort of see why. He’d known his own feelings for a long time and hadn’t said anything, either.

Nanami nodded, satisfied with Komaeda’s words. “So, if we both like Hinata-kun, and Hinata-kun likes us, then… how about he goes out with both of us?”

Hinata blinked at her.

“…what?”

He must have misheard. He was sure he misheard.

There was no way she was really suggesting—

“Both of us?” Komaeda repeated.

“Mm.” Nanami stuck a finger in the air as she launched into an explanation. “In dating sims, most players will play one route all the way through, and then go back and play a different route when that one’s over. But, if you create a save at each decision point, you can load different games and play multiple routes at once… that’s how this could work, I think.”

“So… your idea is that Hinata-kun dates both of us at the same time?” Komaeda said slowly.

Nanami nodded. “Mm.”

“And it won’t be cheating, because we’ll know about each other?”

“Mm, that’s it,” Nanami agreed. “It’s a little unconventional, but it seems like the simplest solution to this love triangle.”

Hinata gaped at her. He couldn’t believe his ears.

“That sounds…”

Komaeda trailed off. He was probably struggling for the words to convey just how ridiculous an idea that was. Hinata couldn’t blame him at all.

“That sounds like a really good idea!”

Hinata choked.

Komaeda continued talking, sounding much more cheerful and enthusiastic now– almost like he was back to his old self.

“Just what you’d expect from the Ultimate Gamer! I should’ve known Nanami-san would come up with a unique solution like that!” he praised her, spreading his hands in the air.

“So, you’re okay with it?” she asked him, tilting her head.

“Of course, I don’t have a problem with that solution at all. But… are you sure you’re okay with it, Nanami-san?” Komaeda’s smile faded into an uncertain look. “Sharing the person you love with someone like me… isn’t that just unfair to you?”

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘someone like you.’ Even though I don’t understand you very well, I never thought you were a bad person,” Nanami said. “I don’t think sharing Hinata-kun with you would be bad. Though, first, we should ask Hinata-kun what he thinks.”

And with that, they both turned to look at him.

Hinata stared back, still hardly daring to believe that this conversation was real.

It sounded absurd. It sounded impossible. The sort of thing they were describing just wasn’t done.

And yet…

Underneath the part of him that wanted to protest, that wanted to disbelieve… another part of him, deep down, felt… hopeful.

Hopeful that he didn’t have to give up on either of the people he loved. Hopeful that he really could stay close to both of them. Hopeful that he could get what he wanted, what he’d been dreaming of for so long, but never dared to actually hope for.

It sounded unreal. It sounded absurd.

And yet… if it was really possible…

If it was really possible, then... there was nothing that would make him happier.

“That’s another problem.”

Komaeda spoke up unexpectedly, jerking Hinata out of his thoughts.

“Doesn’t it seem unlikely that Hinata-kun has what it takes to date two people at once?” he asked Nanami theatrically, jerking a finger at Hinata. “He doesn’t seem very experienced. Right now, he looks like a blushing virgin."

“Are...” Hinata sputtered. "Are you trying to _provoke me_ into dating you...?!”

Komaeda just smiled at him. “Is it working?”

“Hinata-kun, what do you think?” Nanami said, ignoring Komaeda. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

Hinata stared at them, looking them over for any signs that something was amiss. That this was all a big practical joke, or something.

There were no signs like that. Both of them seemed completely sincere, as they waited expectantly on his reply.

“You guys… really think this could work?” he asked.

“Mm, I think it could work. Besides…” Nanami smiled. “You’ll never know unless you just do it, right?”

Hinata’s eyes lit up.

That was it. That was what he needed to hear.

When Nanami said those words, it was enough to give him confidence.

Even though he still felt uncertain – even though there were so many things they’d need to work out – just knowing Nanami truly believed in him, and in _them_ , was enough to give him the will to push forward.

If Nanami thought things would turn out okay, then he had no choice but to believe her.

“…okay,” Hinata said finally. “Sure. I’ll… go out with both of you.”

If Hinata had any lingering doubts, watching Nanami and Komaeda break into amazed grins at the same time was enough to clear them away. They both started laughing in delighted disbelief. It mirrored his own feelings perfectly.

“You’re amazing, Nanami,” Hinata said to her, shaking his head in awe. “You know that, right?”

“But you wouldn’t have me any other way, right?” she said, smiling happily. Hinata just laughed.

Sitting back on the bed, he held his arms out in invitation.

“Both of you guys… come here.”

So they did.

There was a moment of hesitation, at first, as they tried to figure out how to fit together. They didn’t communicate with each other. Wordlessly they maneuvered themselves, until they were in a position where Nanami’s head was tucked under Hinata’s chin, and Komaeda’s arms were around his neck.

Hinata had wondered, before, what it would be like to hold them. What the shape of their bodies would feel like; the material of their clothes; their warmth. How they’d react to being embraced. If they’d blush, if they’d get embarrassed, if they’d just be happy to receive the affection. He’d held hands with them before, but he’d never _held_ them.

Now, he could feel Komaeda’s long wispy hair brushing his temple, and smell Nanami’s shampoo. Her small hands clutched at his waist as she nestled in closer against him.

It was like everything he’d wanted, for longer than he’d even known.

“Happy birthday, Hinata-kun,” Nanami said, breath warm against his neck.

Hinata laughed. “Thanks.”

“And Happy New Year’s,” Komaeda chimed in, his voice close to Hinata’s ear. “Let’s make this new year a hopeful one.”

“Yeah.” Hinata laughed happily again, tugging both of them closer to him. “Let’s do it.”

For a few more peaceful moments, he simply got to enjoy holding them. He felt more content than he ever had in his life. It felt like all his worries were somewhere far away. All his fears about having to lose one of them… maybe they really wouldn’t come true. Maybe there really did exist a future where he could stay with both of them, if he was willing to reach out and grasp it.

“HAJIME-CHAAAAN! NAGITO-CHAAAAN! CHIAKI-CHAAAAAN!”

Suddenly, a shrill voice pierced through the quiet, followed by the sound of footsteps thumping up the stairs.

_Mioda?!_

Panicking, Hinata tried to disentangle himself from them before Mioda could kick down the door, but…

“YOU GUYS NEED TO COME DOWNSTAIRS FOR A SUPER FUN PARTY GAME _ohmygod_.”

Nanami and Komaeda had pulled their arms away, but they hadn’t made it all the way out of his lap. Mioda stood there over the kicked-down door, frozen with shock as she processed the scene in front of her. Or failed to process it.

“Huh, huh? What’s this? Could it be…” Mioda raised her hands to her face. “ _A kinky three-way encounter in the bedroom upstairs?!_ ”

“It’s nothing like that,” Nanami said, “…I think.”

Hinata choked. When she said it _that_ way, it sure didn’t sound very convincing.

“KYAAAA! It’s Ibuki’s first ever New Year’s scandal! Ibuki is shocked!!! Her pure virgin eyes have been assaulted!! _Ghhh!!!_ ” Mioda clutched her heart, heaving out a few exaggerated breaths.

“I-If you just gave us a minute to explain—” Komaeda tried, waving his hands in front of him, but Mioda cut him off.

“Ibuki won’t get in the way of your kinky New Year’s plans anymore! She’ll tell the others you’re busy. Just don’t get _so_ wild we can hear you three downstairs, okay? Bye-Bye~!!”

And with that, she ran back down the stairs, leaving the three of them staring after her.

“Ah, now I’ll have to get the door fixed,” Komaeda remarked idly.

Hinata just put his face in his hands. He figured the chances that Mioda wasn’t currently telling everyone exactly what she’d seen were somewhere between “slim” and “nonexistent.” He could feel a headache coming on.

“Should we go back and join the party?” Nanami asked.

Hinata raised an eyebrow at her. “Do you really want to try to explain everything to them?”

“We can’t stay up here forever, and they’d probably find out at some point anyway,” she said reasonably. “Besides… don’t you want to start the new year together with everyone? That’s why we had the party, after all.”

He wanted to argue, he really did. Anything not to have to go downstairs and face everyone else. But… he couldn’t find any holes in her logic. He knew she was right.

“Alright,” he sighed, and tried to put his best brave face on. “Let’s go.”

* * *

 “One strawberry chocolate parfait.”

Nanami gasped excitedly as the waitress set down her order in front of her. “Thank you very much,” she said breathlessly. Hinata had to smile at her childlike enthusiasm.

“You’re welcome. Enjoy.”

Nanami picked up a spoon as the waitress walked away. “It looks amazing… You should have some too, Hinata-kun.”

“Alright,” Hinata agreed. The parfait was certainly big enough for two people, and the waitress had left them too spoons, correctly assuming that they were on a date. So he took other spoon and dug into a scoop of chocolate ice cream, careful to leave the strawberries on top for Nanami.

It was late March. Hinata’s classes started in one week, and he’d decided to finally cash in Hanamura’s birthday present and enjoy a week off before he got swamped with schoolwork. When he’d called Hanamura to verify that it was okay for him to take the time off work, Hanamura had propositioned him for a four-way, but… Hinata was used to that by now. And it was even easier to turn him down over the phone than in-person.

Graduation had been over a year ago now, and New Year’s Eve was months behind him as well. It was hard to believe, sometimes. So many things had changed in so little time… and yet, it was also like things hadn’t changed much at all.

Maybe it was because he’d been so close to both of them before he started dating them, but Hinata didn’t feel like there was any radical change in his relationship with Nanami or Komaeda. The two biggest changes, as he saw them, were the _physical_ side of things, and the fact that he now accompanied them to more interesting locations than just their homes or the library. He _still_ spent a lot of time side-by-side with Nanami in her apartment playing video games, because she was the type who enjoyed just staying indoors. And Komaeda was still reluctant to go to certain locations for fear of triggering his luck, so they spent a lot of time at home or in the library too. But honestly, he didn’t mind going to the same old places with them. Spending time with them was enjoyable no matter where they went or what they did together.

And as for the physical side of things, well – that was a learning experience. But he quickly discovered that figuring out how to touch and kiss the two people he’d been crushing on for a long time was definitely the fun kind of learning experience.

“Hey, Hinata-kun,” Nanami asked through a mouthful of parfait, “do you want to try feeding each other?”

Hinata choked a little. “D-Do you want to?” he sputtered, red-faced.

“Hmm.” Nanami tapped the spoon to her chin, seriously considering the question. A bit of whipped cream smeared off. “I was a little curious, because that’s a common event in dating sims. And I’ve even seen real couples do it, too. But, I’m not sure I understand the appeal. Don’t people learn how to feed themselves when they’re babies?”

Hinata laughed. “I don’t think people do it because they’ve forgotten how to eat on their own… but yeah, I agree with you.” It sounded embarrassing to him, having Nanami spoonfeed him. It seemed like something only tacky couples did. But…

“If you want to try it, I’ll do it, though,” he said to her. Even though he found it embarrassing, if it was something Nanami wanted, he could endure the embarrassment.

“Maybe someday,” she mused.

After they finished up the parfait and paid the tab, they headed off in the direction of Hinata’s apartment.

“It was nice of Hanamura-kun to give you the week off.”

“Yeah,” Hinata agreed, “and he got me the job in the first place too. I really owe that guy. But I know what he’ll ask for if I offer to do something to pay him back, so…” The answer, of course, was something perverted. It was always something perverted.

Nanami nodded, understanding. “Unfortunately, that’s the kind of person he is. Lately he’s been asking me if he can ‘join in.’”

“Seriously?” Hinata let out an exasperated groan. Though, truthfully, he wasn’t surprised.

“Mm. I tried to explain to him that it’s not a harem situation, but I don’t think he really understood.”

Hinata laughed dryly. “Of course not.”

All things considered, though, Hanamura’s reaction to the reveal of their relationship hadn’t been the worst one. Sure, the constant innuendo and questions about all the non-existent threesomes they were having had been pretty annoying, but it wasn’t that much worse than his usual behavior.

No, when it came to the title of “person with the worst reaction”, it had probably been a tie between Koizumi and Pekoyama. Koizumi had chewed Hinata out for half an hour before Nanami finally convinced her that not only was Hinata not cheating on her, but that _she_ was the one who’d come up with the idea. Koizumi, though, had at least used her words. When Pekoyama misunderstood and thought that Hinata was two-timing Nanami, she’d simply reached for her shinai.

It was pretty rough, but Hinata couldn’t exactly blame them. He understood that they were just looking out for Nanami. He would have probably reacted the same way if he’d been in their shoes. Honestly, it was _still_ hard to believe the whole arrangement had been Nanami’s idea, but Hinata was rapidly learning to expect the unexpected from her. 

Then there had been Souda’s response, which was to loudly freak out and continue freaking out for an entire week. But, well, Hinata sort of figured Souda would have flipped out if he'd started dating _anyone_. He was a pretty clingy guy, and a jealous one, too. But the funny thing was that after he got over it, he actually redoubled his efforts to befriend Komaeda. His exact words had been, “Since we’re soul brothers, Komaeda’s gonna be like, my in-law and stuff! So I’ve got to get to know the guy better."

Cheeks darkening, Hinata had protested that they weren’t getting _married_. But secretly, Souda’s words had made him a little happy.

In the end, their friends had supported them, even if they’d had some reservations at first. Hinata was very grateful to all of them… even if it would have been nice not to have to hear about Hanamura’s perverted fantasies all the time. Or to have to answer Sonia’s questions about “Japanese courting rituals.”

 “So, how’s the game coming along now?” Hinata asked Nanami as they crossed the street.

“Ah, the script was finished last week, but…”

“But?”

Nanami looked down with a small frown on her face. “It needs some revisions.”

“Really? How come?” He knew Fukawa was the Ultimate Writing Prodigy, so he assumed her script would be extremely high quality.

“The content is really morbid and depressing, and the ending is sad,” Nanami explained. “There's nothing wrong with trying to explore serious topics, but… I think games should be fun, you know?”

“Ah…” Hinata processed that. “Yeah, I think so too.”

“So, we’re asking Fukawa-san to change it. At first she got annoyed with us, but then she said she was willing to change it if we raised her share of the profits.”

“I see.” It all sounded very complicated. Some of the people on Nanami’s team sounded difficult to get along with, but he figured if anyone could pull it off, it was her. “Good luck with all that.”

As they turned the corner and came up on his apartment, Hinata froze.

There was someone outside his door he hadn’t expected to see today; someone he’d recognize from a mile away.

“—ah.” Nanami stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

Komaeda turned to look at her in surprise. “Nanami-san?”

The two of them stared at each other, then stared at Hinata, waiting for an explanation. But all Hinata could do was stand there staring back. He didn’t understand what was going on either.

“I didn’t know you had plans with Hinata-kun today,” Komaeda said. “Sorry, Nanami-san.”

“It’s okay… Hinata-kun, did you forget?”

Hinata opened his mouth to say he hadn’t forgotten anything, except— now that he thought about it…

Last night, he’d texted Nanami and asked if she wanted to hang out. And he’d made plans with Komaeda a few days before that, for the 26th, which was a Friday. But today wasn’t Friday, today was Thursday.

No, wait. Yesterday was Thursday.

He’d gotten it mixed up. Last night Souda had invited him to a party – it was hosted by some people from that other class. Souda hadn’t known most of them, but he’d wanted to go so he could see the Ultimate Robot again. He’d begged Hinata to come with him so he’d have someone to talk to. And that was when he’d texted Nanami: when he was at the party.

Souda had said the party was “at the end of the week.” Hinata had been thinking of the end of the week as Friday, but… it had actually been on a Thursday. Which meant today was Friday.

Which meant he’d made plans with Nanami and Komaeda on the same day, by accident.

He felt like the biggest jerk alive. He wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

“I-I didn’t think I gave you guys the same date,” he said, resisting the urge to bury his face in his hands. “I’m sorry.”

“That was pretty absentminded of you,” Komaeda scolded him. But then he immediately stepped down for Nanami’s sake.

“Well, you were here first, Nanami-san, so I’ll be off now.” He got down from Hinata’s doorstep and started down the sidewalk. “Have a good day,” he wished her with a wave of his hand.

But Nanami called after him.

“You don’t have to go,” she said.

Komaeda turned around and blinked at her. “Huh?”

“Since you’re already here, it would be rude to send you back home. Why don’t we all spend time together?” she asked.

“You mean… the three of us?” Nanami nodded. Komaeda sounded hesitant. “…Is that really okay?”

“Mm. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be. Hinata-kun and I weren’t about to do anything that requires privacy… I think.” Nanami looked up at him inquisitively. “Unless I misjudged your intentions.”

“N-No, I wasn’t thinking anything like that!” Hinata said hastily, turning bright red. Though in truth, since they were going to be alone together in his apartment, it had crossed his mind.

“Then let’s head inside,” Nanami said. And with that, she looked expectantly at Hinata.

Hinata… wasn’t completely sure about this. The last time the three of them had been alone together was on New Year’s Eve, during their awkward confrontation in Komaeda’s guestroom.  

Although he knew Nanami and Komaeda liked each other okay, and that they were former classmates, for some reason he never felt comfortable bringing them up around each other. It just felt like he needed to tread more carefully than that; like if he said the wrong thing, one of them might get jealous, and realize they weren’t okay with this arrangement after all. He tried not to mention the things he did with Komaeda around Nanami, and he tried not to mention Nanami very often to Komaeda.

It was probably unnecessary. It may have even been manipulative and underhanded of him. But that was the approach he’d been taking.

Now, though… there wasn’t any getting out of it. Nanami wanted the three of them to hang out together, and they were already here.

So Hinata took his keyring out of his pocket and unlocked his apartment.

“After you,” Komaeda said, and Nanami pushed past him inside.

The three of them took their shoes off in the doorway. Hinata shut the door behind them, and then padded behind them into the living area. He still felt a little apprehensive.  

When he got there, he stood and watched as Komaeda leaned down to say something to Nanami.

“Nanami-san, are you sure this is okay? Hinata-kun looks somewhat uncomfortable,” Hinata overheard. Komaeda’s whispering wasn’t very quiet.

“He’s probably worried that if we’re together, we’ll compare notes on his performance, or something like that,” Nanami replied. “As long as we don’t do that, it should be fine.”

_My performance?! S-She doesn’t mean…!_

Hinata blushed furiously. “Oi, Nanami—!”

Nanami just pretended as though she hadn’t said anything. Although he swore he could see the faint hint of a smile on her lips.

“Let’s go play games,” she suggested. “I call Player 1.” And then she made her way over to the chairs.

“She has an interesting sense of humor, doesn’t she?” Komaeda remarked, as Hinata stood there gaping after her.

“’Interesting’ is one way to put it…” Hinata muttered, still red in the face.

In the time since he’d begun working, Hinata’s living area had undergone a few upgrades. It was no longer as barren as it was when Nanami first visited. With the money he’d saved up from work (plus some New Year’s money from his parents), he’d managed to scrape together the funds for a discounted TV and game system. Though he only had two controllers, not three. 

“I was thinking we could play _Mario Kart_. How about first, I play against Hinata-kun. Then Komaeda-kun can play against whoever wins, which will be me, I think,” Nanami said matter-of-factly. Hinata had to smile wryly at the way she didn’t even try to sugarcoat the reality of his impending loss. “Does that sound good?”

“Sure, that’s fine with me,” Komaeda said cheerfully.

“…fine,” Hinata said, trying to conceal his bruised ego. “Hand me one of the steering wheels.”

They pushed the two chairs together. Komaeda sat on top of the armrests while Hinata and Nanami faced off against each other. Though, in all honesty, it was probably too one-sided a race to be called a “face-off.” It was astonishing, how skilled Nanami was at drifting, dodging shells and pulling off tricks. She didn’t need to bide her time and come up from behind; Hinata didn’t pass her even once.

 “I won,” Nanami said impassively. _I wish you’d at least pretend to be surprised_ , Hinata thought.

“Komaeda-kun, it’s your turn now.”

“Well… alright.” Komaeda hesitated, but took the steering wheel when Hinata offered it to him, along with Hinata’s seat. “I’m sure my skills won’t be comparable to an Ultimate-level gamer like yourself.”

Even though Komaeda said that, the reality that played out onscreen was a little different. Throughout the race, Nanami and Komaeda kept switching between who had the lead. Right up until the end, it could have been anyone’s game. Though, it was true that Komaeda didn’t seem to be _skilled_ at the game, exactly; he was just bizarrely lucky. He kept hitting mushrooms, while shells just seemed to miss him. And towards the end of the game, _right_ after he’d fallen behind Nanami and the others, he got a superstar.

As he blew past Nanami, it really looked like he was going to beat her to the finish line. But she managed to pull up from behind and beat him by just a hair.

“Wow,” Nanami remarked. “It was almost like the game was rigged.”

Komaeda laughed. “Haha, sorry about that. You still won, though.”

“Mm, that’s true. It was nice to have a challenge. Like playing on extra-extra hard mode.” Nanami got up from her seat and offered the steering wheel back to Hinata. “Okay, it’s your turn to play against Komaeda-kun.”

“Are you sure don’t want to play another round with him?” Hinata asked. “Since you, uh, liked the challenge?” Truthfully, though, the reason he was stalling was because he wasn’t really prepared to face Komaeda. Based on what he’d just seen, he looked like he was going to be a very tough opponent. And while he was fine with Nanami beating him – he was used to it, he liked seeing her enjoy herself, she was the _Ultimate Gamer_ after all – he was a little less accustomed to Komaeda kicking his ass.

As usual, Komaeda saw right through him.

“Oh? What’s the matter?” His lips curved into a smile. “Surely you can’t be afraid to face off against someone with my meager level of skill.”

“I’m not afraid,” Hinata said cooly. In spite of his self-deprecating words, there was definitely a challenge in Komaeda’s voice. “Fine, let’s play.”

In theory, the outcome of their race shouldn’t have been decided from the beginning. Based on everything Komaeda had told him about his cycle of good and bad luck, it should have been just as possible for Komaeda to have the world’s _unluckiest_ run of Mario Kart as it was for him to have the luckiest. But, well, that wasn’t what happened this time. All Hinata’s attempts to trip Komaeda up, or even defend against his attacks, failed miserably. After awhile he stopped getting excited when he overtook Komaeda, because when Komaeda fell towards the bottom of the ranking, it just meant he was going to get a superstar again. _Somehow._ For the fifth time.

“Ah, I beat Hinata-kun!” Komaeda sounded surprised, but pleased. “I’ve never won a multiplayer game before. Thank you for introducing me to the world of multiplayer games, Nanami-san… Nanami-san?”

Hinata turned to look at Nanami, leaning against the back of the chair from on top of the armrests. Sometime during their game, she’d apparently fallen asleep. She even looked like she was snoring, but it was impossible to hear over the TV.

 “…she’s asleep,” Komaeda observed.

Hinata set down his controller, then turned off the TV. “I’ll go move her to my bed.”

By this point, he was used to it: picking Nanami up in his arms like a princess, and carrying her off so she could lie down and sleep more peacefully. Though every time, he still flashed back to New Year’s Eve, when he’d carried her upstairs in Komaeda’s house. It was hard to believe that his spur-of-the-moment decision to take her out of the room before Mioda could play any pranks on her had led to their confrontation with Komaeda, which in turn led to their new relationship. In a roundabout way, he supposed he owed Mioda for his current happiness.

Komaeda opened the door, and Hinata gently laid Nanami down on his bed, resting her head on top of his pillow – or tried to lay her down, anyway. For some reason, when he tried to retract his arm, she grabbed for it in her sleep.

“H-Hey…”

He waited to see if she was waking up, but that didn’t appear to be the case. Instead she shifted on the bed so she was curled up around his arm, holding it like it was a stuffed animal.

“Hmm… it looks like she wants you to join her,” Komaeda said.

“I, uh… guess I could do that.” He hadn’t been planning on taking a nap, but he _was_ kind of tired, since he’d been out late last night. And more importantly, he didn’t want to pry Nanami off him.

“Do you want to join, too?” he asked. Komaeda looked a little awkward, hovering in the doorway like that.

Komaeda hesitated. “Is that really okay? It’d probably be strange for Nanami-san to wake up in bed with me, since I’m not her boyfriend.”

“I don’t think she’d mind,” Hinata said. It had been her idea for the three of them to hang out together, after all. And she’d enjoyed playing games with Komaeda, too. She definitely seemed comfortable around him… but Komaeda was the type who was always very careful not to overstep his bounds. Especially around girls. He was kind of old-fashioned that way.

“Here – if you’re that worried about it, you can have my other side,” Hinata said, patting the space next to him on the bed.

Komaeda considered the offer. Eventually, he gave in. “Mm… maybe I’ll do that.”

So Hinata laid down next to Nanami, and Komaeda laid down on his other side, nestled up against his shoulder. He could feel them, the warmth of their bodies: the rise of and fall of Nanami’s chest, pressed against his arm; the familiar tickle of Komaeda’s hair against his neck.

The last time he’d gotten to feel both of them against him like this was New Year’s Eve. He’d almost forgotten how nice it had been. Now he realized how much he missed it, the physical sensation of having them both there.

Being with them like this… it was almost enough to make him feel like he’d reached his happy ending.

Only a few months ago, he’d been so worried about losing them in the future. No matter which path he took, he thought that surely, he’d have to lose one of them. But then another path had opened up in front of him that led to a different future.

He knew he hadn’t reached the end of that path yet. There were still a lot of things he had left to do. He had to attend college and actually get good grades. He had to figure out what type of counselor he wanted to be. He had to find a job in his field, with only his references and his academic record to help him, since he had no talent to pave the way for him. And at some point, he’d have to figure out what, if anything, to tell his parents and other people outside his eccentric circle of friends about his relationship status.

The responsibilities that lay ahead were daunting. The hardest parts were probably yet to come. In some ways, he was only at the beginning.

And yet…

The future held a lot of things he was looking forward to, as well. Things like spending more time with his girlfriend, and boyfriend, and all their other friends too. Things like going on more dates, maybe going on a trip somewhere fun, once he saved up enough money. Things like beta-testing Nanami’s game and helping her sell copies at Comiket. Things like being the one to help _Komaeda_ study for the university entrance exams, this time around. Things like going to Koizumi’s photography exhibit, and Mioda’s shows, and Saionji’s dance performances, with Nanami and Komaeda by his side.

They’d be there, the three of them. When Nidai’s team made it to nationals, when Koizumi graduated, when Souda built his first aircraft, when Tsumiki was recognized by the general hospital for all the help she’d provided. They’d definitely be there, him and Nanami and Komaeda, along with the rest of their friends. He knew it just as surely as he knew that he’d see his friends’ faces in the crowd on the day of his graduation.

When he thought about that, the future didn’t seem intimidating anymore. All sorts of fun opportunities awaited him as long as he was willing to reach out and take them. Nanami had taught him that, and then he’d taught Komaeda.

It wasn’t so bad, being at the beginning of his path.

With Nanami and Komaeda curled up at his sides, he felt so comfortable and relaxed that his eyes gradually drifted shut.

“Sleep well, Hinata-kun,” Komaeda murmured into his neck.

It was the last thing he heard before the sound of their breathing lulled him to sleep.

* * *

“Hmmm… he’s been out for a while now.”

“Mm, it seems like it,” Nanami agreed. They were both standing in the doorway of Hinata’s small bedroom, trying their best to keep their voices down.

“I’m kind of surprised,” Komaeda remarked. “I didn’t know he was tired.”

“He was out late with Souda-kun last night, I think.”

“I see. So… what should we do?”

“We should probably let him sleep for now. In the meantime, maybe we can get started on dinner?”

“Do you know how to cook?” Komaeda asked.

“I’m not very good,” she admitted. “I only started to learn recently, because I was getting tired of pizza delivery every day. But, with the help of games like _Cooking Mama_ , I’ve been making some progress.”

“Learning from games, huh? That’s just what I'd expect,” Komaeda laughed. “Unfortunately, I’m no good in the kitchen at all,” he said, staring down at his hand sadly. “I wouldn’t want to endanger us by starting a fire in Hinata-kun’s apartment.”

“Then, how about I cook, and you clean up after me?” Nanami suggested.

“Mm… I guess that works.”

They tiptoed out of Hinata’s room and carefully shut the door behind them. Then they headed into the kitchen. Once they were there, Nanami took out an oversized apron from the pantry and got to work, scooping rice into Hinata’s cheap rice cooker.

“Hey… Nanami-san…”

“Yes?”

“Is this really okay?” Komaeda asked her.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nanami said, turning to look at him with her head tipped to the side. “Do you mean our relationship with Hinata-kun?”

“Ah, that’s part of it, but not all. What I meant is… is it okay for us to be living like this?”

“…I still don’t know what you mean.”

“I’m referring to all _this_ ,” Komaeda said, gesturing around them. “This quiet, peaceful, uneventful life we’ve been living… is it really okay? You’re an Ultimate, you know. People with your level of talent are meant to lead extraordinary lives. Hinata-kun may not be talented, but he has a lot of potential as well. And as for me… even I have something special about me. Something completely out of the ordinary. For someone with my luck to live a normal, peaceful life and die a normal death… doesn’t that sound all wrong to you?”

After he finished, Nanami just observed him for a moment.

“I don’t think it’s wrong,” she said eventually. “You say ‘ordinary’ like it’s a bad thing, but… these peaceful times are what I treasure the most. Before I met Hinata-kun and all our classmates, I thought games were all I had. I was never good at talking to people. I didn’t think I could form bonds with them. But…”

“But?” Komaeda asked.

“Now that I’ve learned what it’s like to have fun with your friends, and even fall in love, I’m happy every day. I don’t want these days to end. If we could continue living like this forever, then that would be the happiest conclusion of all… That’s what I believe.”

Verbally and physically, Nanami was never very expressive. Her tone and the look on her face weren’t too different from usual. And yet, there was something just a _little_ different. Her voice carried a quiet power to it. Her words clearly came from the heart; she spoke like someone who was certain of her feelings.

“I see,” Komaeda murmured. “So that’s Nanami-san’s hope, is it?”

“Mm.” Nanami nodded. “I still don’t know exactly what you mean by ‘hope’, but, I think that’s probably right.”

Komaeda went quiet after that.

“Does it sound like a bad thing to you?” she asked him curiously. “Living a peaceful life together?”

For a few more moments, he was silent. His mind was somewhere far away. For some reason, his thoughts were of cherry blossoms. A tree in full bloom, an outpouring of pink against a blue sky. Petals carried along by the wind, drifting softly to the ground.

He didn’t know if it was a memory from his childhood, or something out of his dreams. But the feeling it inspired was the same either way.

“No… it doesn’t sound bad.”

Afternoon turned into evening. Nanami continued preparing their meal, Hinata woke up and joined in, Komaeda cleaned the kitchen after them, and the three of them took a step forward into the future.


End file.
